The Qatari Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Hospital in Gaza announced recently that it is beginning the process of preparing the headquarters of the Qatari hospital in Gaza City, funded by the Qatar Fund for Development.
The move joins a series of Doha-funded projects in the health and education sectors in the Strip. It is interpreted in Gaza as yet another layer in consolidating the institutional infrastructure that the Qataris have been building over the years.
The Qatari pattern of operations relies on specific mandates, primarily in medicine and education, that enable long-term establishment. Alongside budget allocations for hospitals and clinics, Qatari support for educational institutions has been mentioned in the past, including the Islamic University in Gaza.
At the same time, a Qatari effort has been recorded to inject "civilian" money into the Strip - funds perceived as less supervised - through public campaigns. Among other things, a campaign was launched in Qatar by the national taxi service, which commits to transferring five percent of all travel costs to Gaza.
Additionally, Qatar's national soccer team players, who qualified for the World Cup, publicly celebrated with donations designated for establishing a school, sports field, and hospital, projects portrayed as humanitarian but also strengthening the Qatari civilian presence in the Strip.
Dr. Ariel Admoni, a Qatar expert from the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, warned that behind the humanitarian initiatives lies a political intention to continue influence in Gaza after the ceasefire.
'Qatari involvement will result in Hamas remaining'
"Qatar is interested in leveraging its position of power in the first stage of Trump's plan, within which Hamas is the active factor, and naturally Doha has better positioning to deepen its influence in Gaza after the ceasefire," Admoni stated. "This move is received with grumbling by the Emirates and the Saudis, who know very well that deep Qatari involvement will result in Hamas remaining and relying on the supposedly civilian apparatus that Qatar provided."
According to Admoni, creating a "civilian" envelope of projects - hospitals, educational institutions, and infrastructure - gives Hamas an advantage in 'the day after' and establishes dependence on mechanisms supported by Doha.
The Qatari move is also causing dissatisfaction in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Regional sources indicate that in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, they identify in the Qatari establishment in Gaza a circumvention of the oversight mechanisms that were created through regional coordination, and that it could make it harder to restrain Hamas within the framework of future arrangements.
According to involved regional sources, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have conveyed messages to the Trump administration that deeper Qatari involvement will lead to Hamas's consolidation and the failure of Trump's plan. Against this backdrop, a quiet diplomatic struggle is expected over the division of roles in rehabilitating the Strip and over the funding channels that will determine the balance of influence within it.