Lula will send more money to the UN agency suspected of helping Hamas

The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated on Thursday (9.Feb.2024) that it will send more money to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). The entity is suspected of collaborating with Hamas in the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

“The recent allegations against UNRWA officials need to be properly investigated, but they cannot paralyze it”, said the PT member in a speech at the Palestinian Embassy, ​​where he was honored at a dinner. Read the complete (PDF – 39 kB) of the speech.

Lula also called on the international community to “maintain and reinforce your contributions” and declared: “My government will provide additional resources to the agency.”

Several countries suspended funding to UNRWA in late January after UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he had been informed of allegations that several of its officials were involved in the October 7 attacks.

This Saturday (10.Feb.2024) images of tunnels with data centers which the Israeli Army claims are used by Hamas militants for electrical and informational supplies and for communication. Some of them passed under UNRWA installationsincluding the agency's headquarters.

Watch (5min22s):

The dinner at the Palestinian Embassy was a tribute offered to Lula by the Palestinian ambassador, Ibrahim Alzeben, on behalf of the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Brazil and the Ambassadors of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Chief Executive received the status of honorary member of the Yasser Arafat Foundation.

The president also advocated that Israel comply with the ICJ decision (International Court of Justice), which ordered the country to avoid “a genocide” in Gaza. Classified the Hamas attack as an act “terrorist”but said to condemn “with equal vehemence Israel’s disproportionate reaction”. He also defended the creation of a Palestinian state.