Restart aid to Palestinian UN agency, EU urges
By Phelan Chatterjee
The EU has called on international donors to resume funding to Gaza’s largest UN agency.
It comes after a review found that Israel had not provided evidence for its claim that thousands of UNRWA staff were members of terror groups.
Several nations halted funding to the agency after allegations that some employees took part in the Hamas attacks on Israel.
The US says it will not restore funding until UNRWA makes “real progress”.
UNRWA, which provides healthcare, education and humanitarian aid to Palestinians, employs 13,000 people in Gaza.
EU humanitarian chief Janez Lenarcic welcomed Monday’s report for “underlining the agency’s significant number of compliance systems in place as well as recommendations for their further upgrade”.
He called on donor nations to support UNRWA, describing it as “the Palestinian refugees’ lifeline”.
This was echoed by Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, who hailed Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan and Sweden for already resuming their funding. The US and UK have not yet done so.
