The United Kingdom, Australia, Finland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada joined the United States on Saturday in suspending funding for the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) amid an investigation into allegations that 12 of its employees were involved in the war Terrorist attacks on October 7 involved attacks against Israel. France has also announced a suspension for the middle of the current year.
Washington said on Friday it would temporarily freeze funding to UNRWA while it reviews the allegations and the steps the UN is taking to address them. “The United States is concerned about allegations that 12 UNRWA personnel may have been involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and has temporarily suspended funding,” the State Department spokesperson said. Matthew Miller.
The Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, announced on Friday the opening of an investigation against the suspected workers and assured that the agency had terminated their contracts. Lazzarini said Israeli authorities had provided the agency with information about the alleged involvement of several employees in the October 7 attacks.
“The Secretary-General is appalled by this news,” he said. Stephane DujarricSpokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. “An urgent and comprehensive independent review of UNRWA is underway.”
The United Kingdom announced on Saturday that it had joined the United States in “temporarily suspending” future funding to the organization while it investigated “related allegations” against UNRWA staff. According to Agence France-Press, Switzerland, which donates around 23 million US dollars annually to UNRWA, has also announced that a decision on the payment in 2024 will only be made after the allegations have been clarified. Italy, Australia, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands made statements along the same lines.
Hamas, for its part, condemned the head of the UN agency for “terminating contracts with several UNRWA employees in Gaza based on Zionist information.” “We strongly reject UNRWA’s announcement that the resistance forces are terrorist organizations (…). It is not the role of UNRWA to take a political stance,” the Hamas statement continued.
The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbasstated: “The goal of the Israeli campaign against UNRWA is the elimination of the Palestinian refugee issue.” AND Hussein al-Sheikh, Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called on these countries on Friday to reverse their decision on the X social network. He said that at this time we need “maximum support for this international organization” to prevent a “major humanitarian catastrophe.”
UNWRA can only offer its services for one month
In an interview with Ashams radio station in Nazareth, a UNWRA spokesman in Gaza said: Adnan Abu Hasna, said that the special agency for Palestinian refugees can only provide services in Gaza until the end of next month. According to Abu Hasna, the organization will continue to distribute flour to displaced families seeking temporary refuge in Rafa. He also said that the decision by the United States and several other countries to freeze funding was disastrous and would impact the services the organization provides not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and to Palestinian refugees in other countries in the region provide.
Abu Hasna stressed in the interview that UNWRA is conducting an investigation into allegations against several of its employees suspected of involvement in the July 7 Hamas attack, adding that a punishment as drastic as freezing of funds is unbearable if almost all residents of the Gaza Strip are expelled.
The new Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katzpraised the Biden administration for its decision to stop funding UNRWA, adding that his country “has warned for years: UNRWA perpetuates the refugee issue, impedes peace and serves as the civilian wing of Hamas in Gaza.”
Founded in 1949 after the first Arab-Israeli war, UNRWA provides services such as education, basic health care and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Israel’s current offensive has devastated much of the densely populated Gaza Strip and killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. The Palestinian refugee agency, whose biggest donors in 2022 included the United States, Germany and the European Union, has repeatedly said its ability to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza is on the verge of collapse.