Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Qatar repair ties frayed since May
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad delegation recently met with Qatar’s ambassador to the Palestinian territories in a bid to improve relations between the two parties.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Qatari Ambassador to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mohammed al-Emadi met recently with a high-level delegation from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) at his Gaza City residence. The meeting was the first in months between the parties, since tensions arose between them in May after Emadi seemed to insinuate that the PIJ wants to pull the Gaza Strip into a military escalation with Israel.
He said back then, “Hamas and Israel do not want war, but somebody stoked military escalation on the borders and wants to drag the region into escalation.” He was referring to the Palestinian sniper who shot two Israeli soldiers May 3 in the eastern Gaza Strip. No Palestinian party has so far claimed responsibility.
