Qatar, UAE give millions of dollars to Hawara following harrowing Israeli settler pogrom

Qatar and the UAE have sent financial support to help rebuild Hawara, the Palestinian town attacked by Israeli settlers late last month in a deadly pogrom that saw hundreds of homes and vehicles torched.

Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani last weekend offered half a million dollars to help rebuild homes in Hawara while UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, whose country recently normalised relations with Israel, pledged $3 million for the occupied West Bank town.

Israeli settlers went on a rampage in Hawara on 26 February following the killing of two other settlers by a suspected Palestinian militant. The rampage saw homes and vehicles torched, with one Palestinian killed in a nearby town.

Some Israeli officials, including a top military general, called it a pogrom, and several settlers have so far been detained over the violence.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a darling of the settler movement, had earlier called for Hawara to be "wiped out".

"We've seen settlers attacking in full daylight. We've seen coordination among settlers. We see settlers using bulldozers. We see more & more intimidation and harassment."

Why the Israeli settler violence in Hawara is a sign of what's to come 👇 https://t.co/wkEK2ltOOX

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) March 12, 2023

"The UAE's support for the Palestinian people is consistent and firm, confirmed by real positions and concrete actions that alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians," Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, wrote on his Twitter page on Thursday.

Abu Dhabi officially established relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the so-called Abraham Accords, which also saw Bahrain and later Sudan and Morocco also normalise ties.

The controversial move was slammed by Palestinians who say it harms their fight for self-determination and independence.

Qatar - which does not share any diplomatic ties with Israel - gave $500,000 to the Hawara municipality last weekend to help with the rebuild.

Secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO Hussein Al-Sheikh received the grant on Sunday.

صورة| أمين سر اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير حسين الشيخ يسلم منحة مقدمة من أمير دولة قطر تميم بن حمد إلى بلدية #حوارة بقيمة نصف مليون دولار كتعويضات بعد هجمات المستوطنين الأخيرة. pic.twitter.com/k6RQO5aRlv

— وكالة سند للأنباء - Snd News Agency (@snadps) March 12, 2023

The death toll of Palestinians continues to rise due to near-daily Israeli military raids on towns and villages in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian health ministry in its latest death toll says 88 Palestinians have been killed since the start of this year, including 17 children.

Four Palestinians were killed on Thursday in a busy street in Jenin. Some them were said to be fighters from the 'Jenin Brigades' while one was 16 years old.