Canada restores funding to UN aid agency in Gaza

Canada has decided to resume funding to the controversial United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said Friday.

The decision comes seven weeks after Canada and 15 other countries halted payments to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East after Israel alleged in January that a dozen of its workers participated in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Canada’s next $25-million payment to the agency, known as UNRWA, is due next month. Ottawa did not miss a payment as a result of the pause. Canada made the decision to go ahead with the payment after seeing an interim report from the UN, Hussen said.

“We’ve been reassured by the contents of this interim report,” he said, without providing details.

Israel has accused UNRWA of being a “haven for Hamas’s radical ideology” and using its medical and education programs to incite antisemitism. UNRWA officials say they have been provided no evidence to back up those claims.

Montreal MP Anthony Housefather and former public safety minister Marco Mendicino wrote an open letter to the government Thursday urging it not to restore UNRWA funding.

The agency does not have the governance and internal controls to make sure aid doesn’t end up in the hands of Hamas, they wrote.

Friday’s decision appeared to make Canada only the second government to resume funding. The European Commission agreed last week to send 60 per cent of its contribution, holding on to the balance pending further actions by the agency to investigate its employees and take action to keep Hamas militants out of its ranks.