 Relatives mourn one of two Palestinian teenagers who were killed Saturday trying to infiltrate Israel, during his funeral in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. The Israeli military said it struck 18 targets in Gaza early on Sunday, in response to an explosive device that wounded four Israeli soldiers, along the border with the territory. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra) |
A Qatari envoy said Monday that both Israel and Gaza militants want to contain cross-border violence that has flared in recent days, as he detailed a new emergency fund to aid the blockaded territory.
Earlier Monday, Israel's military struck what it said was an underground militant infrastructure site in Gaza in response to rocket fire. The military has struck various targets in Gaza in recent days and killed two Palestinians who tried to infiltrate Israel after a bomb on the border wounded four Israeli soldiers.
There were no reports of casualties from the latest strike.
"We confirm through our relationship with the two sides that they are not interested in escalation or engaging in a confrontation that could ignite the entire region," the Qatari envoy, Mohammed al-Emadi, told reporters in Gaza City.
Al-Emadi, whose country maintains contacts with the Islamic militant group Hamas and has hosted its leaders, coordinates Qatar's relief and reconstruction projects in Gaza. On Monday, he announced details of a $9 million emergency fund for addressing fuel and medicine shortages.
Gaza has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas wrested control of the territory from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority in 2007. A dispute over money and revenue collections has stalled a reconciliation deal between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, which Egypt brokered in October.
Abbas has since stepped up financial pressure on Gaza. Hamas says the cuts are endangering the functioning of Gaza hospitals.
The Qatari grant includes $2 million in medical supplies and $500,000 for fuel to power backup generators in Gaza's public health centers, enough to keep them running for a month.
Trucks loaded with the supplies and decorated with Qatari flags and posters of the oil-rich sheikhdom's rulers could be seen outside Gaza City's main Shifa hospital on Monday, where al-Emadi and U.N. officials spoke.
Hospital cleaning workers demonstrated their support during the ceremony, holding signs reading "Thank you, Qatar." They have been on a strike for 10 days, demanding payment from the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Hamas and Abbas' Palestinian Authority are locked in a dispute over who is responsible for paying them.
The Gaza border area has been generally quiet since a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in 2014. But it has seen an increase in violence since President Donald Trump's announcement in December recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.