Capitals (Union, Agencies)
Yesterday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres strongly appealed to donor countries that suspended their contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), to continue funding to ensure the continuation of the agency’s work.
Guterres' position came after the United States, Canada, Australia, Italy, Britain, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and France stopped their funding for the agency after Israel accused 12 of the agency's employees of participating in the October 7 attack.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations said in a statement: “While I understand the concerns of donor countries, I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions, at a minimum, to ensure the continuity of UNRWA operations.”
Guterres pledged that “any United Nations employee involved in the attacks will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution, and the Secretariat is prepared to cooperate with a competent authority capable of prosecuting individuals in line with its normal procedures for such cooperation.”
He provided details about the UNRWA employees accused of involvement in the attacks, according to him, and added that “the service of 9 of the 12 involved has been terminated, and the death of one of them has been confirmed, and the identity of the other two is now being determined.”
In turn, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, accused the countries that announced the cessation of their financial support to UNRWA of “aiding in genocide.”
In turn, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said yesterday that UNRWA represents “a lifeline for more than two million Palestinians facing hunger in Gaza.” Al-Safadi stressed, in a post on the “X” platform, “the need for the agency not to be subject to collective punishment, as a result of allegations against 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza, especially since the agency acted responsibly and began an immediate investigation into these allegations.”
Al-Safadi confirmed, during a phone call with the Agency’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, that “UNRWA plays an indispensable role in delivering humanitarian aid to more than two million Palestinians facing a humanitarian catastrophe as a result of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.” He stressed “the need for the international community to continue providing the necessary assistance to the agency to enable it to continue providing its services in Gaza, whose people are facing famine.” Al-Safadi and Lazarini urged the countries that announced the suspension of their support for UNRWA to reverse their decision, to ensure the agency’s ability to provide its vital services, on which more than two million Palestinians in Gaza depend for the most basic necessities of life, and whose shelters provide the only refuge for about one million out of about one million and 900. One thousand Palestinians have been displaced since the start of the war. Lazzarini pointed out that the agency requested the highest investigative authority in the United Nations, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, to conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the allegations of the participation of 12 of its employees in the October 7 attack, and terminated the contracts of these employees. He added, “The investigation conducted by the Office of Internal Oversight Services will work to establish the facts, and that an independent review by external experts will help UNRWA strengthen its framework to ensure that all its employees fully adhere to humanitarian principles.” Al-Safadi and Lazarini stressed that “any shortfall in funding for UNRWA, which constitutes the main lifeline in the Strip, will immediately affect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian services to Gaza, and will cause more suffering to its people, for whom the volume of humanitarian aid that has reached them since the start of the war has not exceeded 10% of their needs.” .
In this context, Ireland confirmed that it does not intend to stop funding the “vital work” carried out by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip. Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin wrote in a blog post on the “X” platform: “We have full confidence in the decision of Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, to suspend the work of UN agency employees suspected of participating in the October 7 attacks.”
He said, “UNRWA provided life-saving assistance to 2.3 million people at an incredible personal cost, as more than 140 of its employees were killed in the past four months.”
Martin stressed that “his country has no plans to suspend funding for UNRWA's vital work in Gaza.”
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