UN calls for continuous funding of its Agency in Gaza
UNITED Nations ( UN) chief, António Guterres has urged countries that halted funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNR WA, to continue i ts operations. “The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met,” Mr Guterres said.
Nine countries, including the UK, h ave taken action since Israel told UNRWA some staff were involved in the October 7 deadly Hamas attacks on Israel.
The agency says it is investigating and has already sacked some employees.
The countries that have now suspended funding of UNRWA are Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany , Italy, the Netherlands, UK and America.
Created in 1949, the United Nations Relief and W orks Agency, UNRWA, is the biggest UN agency operating in Gaza. It provides healthcare, education and other humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It emplo ys around 13,000 people inside Gaza. Since Israel began its offensive in response to the Hamas attacks UNRWA has used its facilities across Gaza to shelter hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.
Israel has long accused different branches of the UN, including UNRWA, of bias and even of antisemitism.
Details about the Israeli allegations ha ve not been made clear, but reports in the Israeli media suggest UNRWA vehicles and facilities may have been used for the attack in which Hamas gunmen killed around 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and took another 240 hostage. An adviser to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Friday told the BBC that the October 7 Hamas attacks had in volved “people who are on their ( UNRW A) salaries”.
Mr Regev also referred to an Israeli hostage who , on her release, said she had been “held in the house of someone who worked for UNRWA”. In his statement on Saturday, the UN secretary general said that Israel had made allegations against 12 UNRWA employees, nine had been sacked, one had died and the identity of the remaining two was being “clarified”. Mr Guterres said that he understood the concerns of the governments which have suspended funding. “I was myself horrified by these accusations,” he said, adding that “the abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences”. But this should not mean that the many thousands who work for the agency should be penalised, the UN chief said.
Mr Guterres’s statement followed a strongly - worded reaction by the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, who called the decision to suspend funds “shocking” given the small number of staff facing the Israeli allegations.
He made it clear that UNRWA shared the list of its staff with Israel ever y year and had never received and concerns. Some countries ha ve said they will continue their support for UNRW A. Norway’s representative to the Palestinian Authority said the organisation has a “crucial role” in distributing aid, and emphasised the “need to distinguish between what individuals may ha ve done, and what UNRW A stands for”.
Israeli Foreign Minister , Israel Katz, urged Mr Lazzarini to resign and said he aimed to stop UNRW A operating in Gaza after the war.