Hamas PM: Qatar Ups Gaza Investment to $400 Mn

Doha is increasing its investment in rebuilding Gaza to $400 million, up from $254 million, Gaza's Hamas premier said on Tuesday during a landmark visit by the Qatari emir.

"The emir agreed to increase the Qatari investment from $254 million to $400 million," prime minister Ismail Haniya said during a press conference in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza to mark the emir's visit.

Qatar's emir received a warm welcome on his visit to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first by a head of state since the Islamist Hamas movement took over in 2007.

Thousands of Qatari and Palestinian flags were flying across the territory to mark Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani's visit, alongside huge billboards reading: "Thank you, Qatar, you kept your promise."

The visit is something of a diplomatic coup for Hamas, whose government international dignitaries have boycotted since the movement forcibly took over the territory in 2007, ousting forces loyal to the western-backed Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas.

After crossing from neighboring Egypt's Sinai peninsula, the Qatari leader was warmly welcomed by a large delegation of top Hamas officials led by prime minister Ismail Haniya and his cabinet, as well as Salah al-Aruri, a senior member of the Islamist movement's exiled leadership.

Sheikh Hamad is leading a top-level delegation including his wife, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani.

During the brief visit, the emir will inaugurate a $254-million Qatari investment project to rebuild the impoverished enclave which sustained major damage during a 22-day Israeli operation that began in late December 2008.

Shortly after his arrival, Sheikh Hamad traveled to the southern city of Khan Yunis to lay the foundation stone for the construction of 1,000 homes for poor families. The project is being named in his honor.

It was the second time the Qatari leader had visited the tiny coastal territory and coincides with a spike in tension between Hamas and Israel.

The last time the emir visited was in 1999 when he flew into Gaza's international airport near Rafah, which was destroyed by Israeli troops several years later during the second intifada.

On that visit, he was welcomed by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004, and also met with Hamas's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in the same year.

Tuesday's state visit comes after several days of tension between militants and Israel.

In the morning, an Israeli soldier was severely wounded in armed clashes along the border, and on Monday two militants were killed and four injured in Israeli air raids, which prompted threats of revenge from Hamas's armed wing.

Israel has also promised to hit back at anyone targeting soldiers or civilians.

"This visit has great political significance," Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu told Agence France Presse on Monday. "He is the first Arab leader to break the political siege."

Since Hamas took control of Gaza after bloody clashes with Abbas's rival Fatah party in 2007, visitors such as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and European Union foreign ministers have avoided any contact with the Islamist government.

The emir's visit was criticized by Israel, with officials saying it demonstrated Doha's support for Hamas over Abbas's Palestinian Authority.

"We find it weird that the emir doesn't support all of the Palestinians but sides with Hamas over the Palestinian Authority which he has never visited," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP on Monday.

"The emir has chosen his camp and it is not good," he said.

Qatar has tried to mediate in a process of national reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, and in February hosted talks between Abbas and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who has recently shifted his political base from Damascus to Doha.

The emir and his entourage were expected to return to Egypt at 4:00 pm