(Updates with Qatari comments) By Patrick Worsnip UNITED NATIONS, July 30 (Reuters) - In comments reflecting Arab differences over Gaza, the Palestinian Authority welcomed on Monday the withdrawal of a proposed U.N. statement on the situation there, saying it had not been consulted about it. The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said the authority did not object to the content of the Security Council statement drafted by Qatar, which voiced concern at conditions in Gaza, virtually cut off since Hamas took it over in June. But the official, Riyad Mansour, told journalists in prepared comments: "It is unacceptable for anyone, including friends, to act on our behalf without our knowledge, without consulting us ... It would send wrong messages." Officials from Qatar, which currently sits on the Security Council, confirmed that they had withdrawn the statement on Monday after it became apparent it would not pass. Mansour represents Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the government he set up in the West Bank after the rout of his forces in Gaza by the Islamist Hamas movement, which previously led the Palestinian government after winning elections. Crossings into the Gaza Strip from Israel and Egypt were closed to most traffic after the June 14 Hamas takeover of the enclave of 1.5 million people, resulting in shortages of food and other essentials. But this week Israel began allowing Palestinians stranded in Egypt to return to Gaza via the Jewish state, in a deal agreed with Egypt and Abbas' Western-backed government but criticized by Hamas. Qatar, backed by Indonesia, had drafted a statement which demanded the reopening of all Gaza crossing points -- a move that would ease the isolation of Hamas -- as well as deploring conditions there. But a senior Qatari official, who asked not to be named, said the Palestinians had asked the United States, a veto-holding power, to block the declaration. The official also said there had been no need to consult the Palestinians. "If it had been a political statement, we would have consulted them. But it was a humanitarian statement," he said. Mansour said there was "no specific need" for any Security Council statement on Gaza at present. Asked on whose behalf he thought Qatar was acting in drafting the statement, he said: "I think that this is a very good question to ask to the Qataris."
