Qatar has allocated 480 million dollars in aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
It said 180 million dollars of the amount will go to humanitarian relief, provide support for United Nations programmes and support electricity services.
The other 300 million dollars in grants and loans will support the health and education budget of the Palestinian Authority.
Qatar, which has close ties with Hamas, has also recently pledged 150 million dollars for improving the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The announcement followed escalation in violence between Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and Israel.
The conflict reignited over the weekend, with Israel’s army attacking over 350 targets in Gaza in response to missile attacks by Palestinian militants.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, four people were killed in missile attacks in Israel, while no fewer than 25 Palestinians were killed and 160 injured in counter-attacks by the Israeli army.
“Ten of the Palestinians killed were civilians and the rest were militants,’’ the ministry said.
