Sheikh Hamad bin² Khalifa al-Thani is expected to launch a $254m construction project to help rebuild the war-torn Palestinian territory.

 

Qatar has become one of Hamas's main benefactors³（恩人，施主） since the Islamist movement fell out with its long-term ally Syria.

 

The Palestinian Authority expressed reservations about the emir's visit.

 

The Qatari ruler will fly to Egypt and cross into Gaza by car amid tight security.

 

 

The visit is a sign of the increasing ties between the Gulf⁵ state and Hamas, the BBC's Jon Donnison reports from Gaza.

 

Qatar, one of the richest countries in the Arab world, has become an important source of revenue for Hamas in the aftermath of its fallout with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

 

In February, the head of the Hamas government, Ismail Haniya, announced the group had moved its political leadership from Syria to Egypt and Qatar, because it could no longer effectively operate because of the unrest.

 

The political bureau of Hamas had been based in Damascus since 1999, and relations appeared to be good until anti-government protests erupted throughout Syria in March 2011.

 

Mr Haniya angered President Assad when he declared his support for the Syrian people.

 

Qatar, meanwhile, was the first Arab nation to call publicly for military intervention⁶ in Syria to topple（推翻，颠覆） the government.

 

It was the main Arab player in the Nato-led coalition⁷ in Libya and has played a major part in trying to resolve regional conflicts.

 

The country maintains cordial relations with both the US and Iran, and - even more unusually for an Arab state - with both Hamas and Israel.

 

Most recently, Qatar has been involved in the reconciliation process between Hamas and its long-time rival faction⁸, Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority and is in power in the West Bank.

 

Hamas seized control of Gaza from forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. 

 

In response to the takeover, Israel tightened⁹ its blockade on the coastal¹⁰ sliver¹¹, which has had a crippling（造成严重后果的） effect on Gaza's economy.

 

A spokesperson for Mr Abbas said the Palestinian Authority welcomed Qatar's efforts to help the people in Gaza but also stressed "the necessity to preserve the legitimate¹² representation of the Palestinian people".

 

Mr Abbas called on Sheikh Hamad to "urge Hamas in Gaza to go for reconciliation and to end this split".

 

One of America's key Arab allies, the Qatari ruler also holds a unique position of leverage¹³（手段，影响力） to pressure Hamas to distance itself from Iran, our correspondent says.

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