Qatar pledges $500 million for postwar construction in Gaza

“We will continue to support our brothers in Palestine in order to reach a just and lasting solution by establishing their independent state,” Qatar’s foreign minister tweeted.

By Associated Press

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken jetted to Egypt and Jordan on Wednesday as he pressed ahead with a diplomatic mission aimed at shoring up a ceasefire that ended an 11-day war between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s ruling Hamas militant group.

Blinken landed in Cairo a day after holding intensive talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. In Egypt, he met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and other top officials. Later he traveled to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II.

Blinken has vowed to “rally international support” to rebuild hard-hit Gaza while promising to make sure that none of the aid reaches Hamas. He is instead trying to bolster Hamas’ rival, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

In a boost to those efforts, the energy-rich Gulf country of Qatar pledged $500 million to postwar reconstruction in Gaza. Qatar often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and it has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian and development aid to support past cease-fires.

“We will continue to support our brothers in Palestine in order to reach a just and lasting solution by establishing their independent state,” Qatar’s foreign minister, Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, wrote on Twitter.