Emir of Qatar the first head of state to visit Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip Mohammed Abed / Pool via Reuters Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh welcomes the Emir of Qatar Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, right, to Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Oct. 23. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The Emir of Qatar arrived on Tuesday in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, becoming the first head of state to visit the area since Egypt and Israel launched a blockade of the Palestinian enclave in 2007, and breaking the isolation of its Iran-backed rulers. Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, welcomed with a red carpet, who has led Arab efforts to support rebels in Syria and Libya during Arab Spring revolts, left Doha with a large delegation including his wife Sheikh Moza, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim and other ministers, the official Qatar News Agency reported. "This visit has great political significance," said Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu, according to AlJazeera.com. He is the first Arab leader to break the political siege. Gaza, under partial blockade by Israel and Egypt, has no airport or seaport, and the Qatari delegation was expected to enter by land from Egypt. Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi said he welcomed the emir's visit to Gaza, according to a late night statement from his office quoted by AlJazeera.com. Mohammed Abed / Pool via EPA Qatar's first lady, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, left, walks alongside the wife of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, during a welcome ceremony at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Sheikh Hamad is officially visiting the territory to inaugurate reconstruction projects worth over $250 million, which an envoy of his oil-rich, conservative Arab emirate unveiled in Gaza last week. The emir is the first foreign leader to go to Gaza under the rule of Hamas, an Islamist movement seen as a terrorist organization by Western powers but whose influence and aspirations in the Middle East conflict may be hard to ignore. The visit will not include a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmood Abbas, whose authority extends over the West Bank. The emir notified Abbas of his visit in a phone call on Sunday, according to the Jerusalem Post. "We can't welcome the visit of the emir and his wife to the Gaza Strip," said political analyst Adel Abdel Rahman, who is affiliated with Fatah, to the paper. The visit does not serve the unity of the Palestinian territories, the people and the political system. On the contrary, the visit poses a threat to unity and our political system. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters Hamas security forces sit between posters of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, left, and Qatar's Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who is set to visit the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. He will be the first head of state to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip. Western-allied Gulf Arab states are trying to lure Hamas away from its alliance with Iran, whose nuclear energy program has raised the prospect of a war with Israel. Israel and Gaza are in a state of perpetual low-level conflict, marked by sporadic rocket attacks from Gaza by Islamic militant groups and air strikes by the Israeli forces.