French government says it intends to end support for UNRWA after suspected involvement with Hamas
France decided to suspend aid to UNRWA (the acronym in English for the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees) and stated that information that agency officials were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which started the war , they are “exceptionally serious”. Other 9 countries (read more below) They have also canceled financial support.
In a statement released this Sunday (January 28, 2024), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had no planned transfer for the 1st half of 2024 and that “will decide in due course what measures to take together with the United Nations and the main donors”. Here's the completein French (PDF – 66 kB).
The UN agency (United Nations) aims to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. The organization's secretary general, António Guterres, called for a quick investigation of the case.
In the note, the French government said it hoped that “the investigations launched in recent days clarify past events and are accompanied by concrete measures to be implemented quickly”.
Here is the list of countries that have already suspended aid to UNRWA:
In a statement (completein English – PDF – 236 kB), the UK government declared that it was “dismayed” with the allegations and would temporarily suspend “any future financing” until the facts are analyzed. “We remain committed to bringing humanitarian aid to people in Gaza who desperately need it”, says the text.
Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, announced the suspension of funding to UNRWA through a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Allied countries recently made the same decision. We are committed to humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population while protecting Israel's security“, he wrote.
At X, Canada's Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, he said that the country is “deeply concerned” and will suspend funding “pending the outcome of the investigation” from UNRWA.
In a statement published on social media, he also said that Canada will not diminish its support for the population of the Gaza Strip and will continue to provide vital humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian enclave through “other partners”.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the suspicions of “abominable”. According to her, the country “welcomes UNRWA's rapid response”.
In a statement, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development of Finland, Ville Tavio, announced the suspension of humanitarian aid that would last until 2026. Here is the completein English (PDF – 87 kB).
“Finland's money should not go to Hamas or other terrorists, not a single euro. The suspicion that the employees receiving the aid were involved in the terrorist attack led to the suspension of the aid. The case must be investigated thoroughly.”stated the minister.
The United States was the first to break support. The announcement was made by government spokesman, Matthew Miller, announced on Friday (26 January 2024).
UNDERSTAND
The UN Secretary-General said he had been briefed on allegations that several UNRWA officials were involved in the October 7 attacks in Israel. In a note issued by his spokesperson on Friday (26 January), he states that he was aware of this news “extremely serious” through the agency’s general commissioner, Philippe Lazzarini, and “is horrified”.
According to Lazzarini, it was the Israeli authorities who provided the information about the employees' alleged participation.
Guterres asked the commissioner-general to investigate the matter and ensure that any employee of the agency “who participated in or was an accomplice to the acts, or in any other criminal activity, be dismissed immediately and referred for possible criminal prosecution”.
UNRWA claims to have opened an investigation into workers suspected of involvement in the attacks, with whom it says the contractual relationship has ended.
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