In a joint statement, more than a dozen leaders of major UN agencies, including the head of the Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, and the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom urged Western governments not to withdraw their financial aid to the organization that provides humanitarian aid to the Gazan population. Defunding UNRWA would have “catastrophic” consequences for Palestinians in the enclave, they warn. The organization is plunged into a moment of crisis after it was revealed, according to information from Israel, that 12 employees of the agency had collaborated with Hamas in the October 7 attacks.
It is a desperate cry from the United Nations humanitarian agencies, on behalf of the Gazan population, succumbed to war, devastation and the humanitarian crisis. The continuity of UNRWA is in suspense after Israel's complaint about the alleged collaboration of 12 agency employees in the Hamas attacks of October 7.
In writing and face to face, senior UN officials ask the governments of nations like United States, Germany, France, Austria, Romania, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Netherlands and Italy, not suspend financing to the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), the main lifeline for the more than two million inhabitants of the territory hit by Israeli attacks for almost four months.
They will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza
More than a dozen UN agency heads urged that call in a written statement. Among them, the director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who stressed that “the decisions of several countries to suspend funds for UNRWA, the largest provider of humanitarian aid in this crisis, will have catastrophic consequences.” for the people of Gaza.
“The world cannot abandon Gaza,” they added in the letter.
And the cut in funds compromises the continuity of the operation of UNRWA, at a time of greatest crisis that leaves internally displaced inhabitants, at risk of famine, without water or shelter.
“No other entity has the capacity to provide the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need. We call for these announcements to be reconsidered,” Tedros insisted.
Funds to support @UNRWA are critical — stopping its crucial lifeline for people in #Loop will have serious consequences in terms of human suffering and unmanageable further displacement. I join other humanitarian leaders in appealing for the resumption of this vital funding 👇🏻 https://t.co/ged1I4C8Gw
— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) January 31, 2024
Likewise, the note highlighted that “the accusations of participation of several UNRWA staff in the atrocious attacks against Israel on October 7 are horrific (…) However, we should not prevent an entire organization from fulfilling its mandate to serve the people who desperately need it”
Also in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, UN Secretary General António Guterres made the call to 35 donor countries. And this Wednesday, he insisted on the crucial need to maintain funding for humanitarian operations in territory besieged by Israeli troops.
The Refugee Agency is “the backbone of the entire humanitarian response in Gaza”, Guterres remarked.
The heated controversy He also threatens UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, whose resignation the Israeli Foreign Minister demanded. last Monday, January 29.
The role of UNRWA – founded in 1949 after the first Israeli-Palestinian conflict – is decisive, helping Palestinian refugees with health, education and humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. In Gaza alone it employs 13,000 people.
The serious accusation that has UNRWA on the brink of collapse
Like a domino effect, the main donors announced that they are suspending funding for UNRWA, after it became publicly known last Friday, January 26 – based on information in a six-page document from Israel's intelligence agencies – that 12 of the thousands of employees of that agency would have collaborated in the lethal Hamas attacks in the south of the Jewish-majority country, which triggered the escalation of the ongoing war.
The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees opened an investigation and announced that those involved were removed from their positions. Subsequently, it emerged that nine of them had their contracts terminated, one had died, and the identity of the last two allegedly involved was being established.
The accusations against UNRWA staff are among the most serious in its history and not only deeply affect the image of the world body, but also put its operations at risk. UN officials warn that the agency It will have to stop its work at the end of February if funding is not restored.
An Israeli intelligence dossier, seen by Reuters last Monday, includes allegations that some UNRWA personnel were involved in kidnappings and murders during the October 7 raid that sparked the ongoing war. Additionally, the report alleges that some 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, belong to the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.
But Palestinian authorities accuse Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA's image.
Although this is the most serious accusation ever made by the Israeli Government towards UNRWA, this is not the first time that Israel has harshly criticized or reproached humanitarian agencies working in Gaza.
Constantly, the Netanyahu Government accuses the UN of fueling “anti-Israel” rhetoric, accusations that the international entity rejects.
These accusations by Israel have grown in recent months, especially after On October 24, before the United Nations Security Council, Guterres expressed his strong reproach for the attacks that hit the enclave Palestinian by sky, sea and land.
After rejecting the bloody attack by the Islamist group against Israel and demanding the release of those kidnapped, the UN Secretary General declared that “it is also important to recognize that Hamas attacks do not come from nowhere. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.” Some words that raised the anger of the Israeli Government, which even demanded his resignation.
Norway closes ranks around UNRWA; US conditions aid on “fundamental changes”
Norway – one of the main donors to UNRWA and which last Sunday indicated that it will maintain its financial support for the agency – urges the countries that announced the suspension of funds to consider the consequences that their actions would have for the population of Gaza. This was highlighted by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide, in a conversation with Reuters.
“We are discussing the issue of funding with other donors and will continue to do so in the coming days and weeks (…) We urge donor countries to reflect on the broader consequences of cutting their funding to UNRWA,” said Barth Eide.
The chancellor highlighted that “UNWRA is a vital lifeline for 1.5 million refugees in Gaza. Now more than ever, the agency needs international support.” And he added that Oslo maintains its “strong commitment to the agency and to the Palestinian people.”
“We cannot collectively punish all the people who are internal refugees or forcibly displaced, these people did not choose a life as refugees,” the Norwegian Foreign Minister stressed in another interview with Arab television.
Norwegian Foreign Minister advocates for continued UNRWA funding
Norway's Foreign Affairs Minister Espen Barth Eide urged countries to maintain their support for UNRWA, emphasizing that suspending funding for UNRWA amounts to collective punishment against the Palestinian people… pic.twitter.com/pCFciQnWjF
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 30, 2024
Meanwhile, Washington expressed conditions to resume its financial contributions to the agency.
Noting that she welcomes the investigation launched by the UN, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assured on Tuesday that UNRWA needs to make “fundamental changes” before the Joe Biden Administration restores funding . The US Government was the first to announce the drastic measure last Friday, January 26.
Among the changes the U.S. is demanding from the agency, he said: “We need to examine the organization, how it operates in Gaza, how they manage their staff, and ensure that people who commit criminal acts, like these 12 individuals, are immediately held accountable for so that UNRWA can continue the essential work it is doing.
The United States is the largest donor. According to figures released by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, the country provides between 300 and 400 million dollars a year.
While Western governments debate whether or not to resume aid, the bombs and weapons of the Israeli Army continue to hit the Palestinian enclave, where the total number of fatalities this Wednesday rose to at least 26,900, the local Ministry of Health said.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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