Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Emir of Qatar tomorrow. The Palestinian leader officially arrived at the opening ceremony of the Arab Football Championship on Tuesday but sources say he is expected to seek urgent financial assistance from the Gulf state.
In exchange for them being the ones to develop the gas field off the coast of Gaza, with Israel's consent, Qatar's involvement in the project should also "convince" Hamas.
The gas field, which has a potential of 33 billion cubic meters, was discovered about two decades ago, but since then there has been no progress towards production.
If this is true, the Qatari approach of "money for gas" expresses a new perception in the Arab world that "there are no free gifts" to the Palestinian Authority after years of aid money being "swallowed up" by the Palestinian Authority and not going mostly to residents but to salary payments and corruption.
It will be recalled that a few weeks ago, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Shteya noted that the financial situation of the Authority is the most difficult since its establishment.