On July 13, Omer Barlev, Israel’s internal security minister, said that Naftali Bennett, the country’s prime minister, wants to introduce vouchers for the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. If implemented, this system would complement the controls that Israel already imposes on payments into the Strip including from Qatar in 2014. Last month, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, rejected Israeli allegations that this money is used to fund terrorism and stressed that Israel knows very well how the money is transferred (MEMO, 2021).
A World Bank report, published in June, estimates that the 11-day Israeli offense on the Strip in the period 10-21 May produced immediate (up to 6 months) costs of between US$ 125 – 195 million (USD); it also estimates the short-term recovery and reconstruction costs (6- 24 months) to be between 220 – 290 million (USD) (World Bank, 2021).
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