France also freezes its funds for UNRWA while Arab countries denounce “collective punishment”

Follow the wave of stoppage of funds for UNRWA unleashed yesterday Saturday. The French Government has announced that “does not foresee” a new donation of funds for the UN Refugee Agency Palestines during this first half of 2024although he has assured that he will resume his contribution if “all the necessary transparency and security requirements are met.”

Paris thus joins what was decided by USA, Canada, Australia, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and Finlandwhich will also not provide new funding to UNRWA for the duration of the investigation into the alleged involvement of some of its employees in the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7.

The French Government contributed 60 million euros in 2023 to UNRWA.

Norway and Ireland have stated that they will continue to provide funding to the agency for refugees and Spain has not spoken yet.

Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey They condemn the “collective punishment” of UNRWA and ask that funds be reactivated

Jordan has condemned the “collective punishment” against UNRWA and has recalled that the survival of Gazans depends on this organization: “UNRWA is the lifeline of more than two million Palestinians who face hunger in Gaza. It should not be collectively punished for accusations against 12 people of its 13,000 employees,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on his X account.

For this reason, they have urged countries that have suspended their funds to revoke the decision.

In the same way, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have asked “not to limit” the work of UNRWA and have also demanded that Israel respect the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and end its military operation in the Gaza Strip. They have called for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza”, and for “an end to the policy of mass punishment” against the inhabitants of the Strip. They have been “astonished” by the decision made by the countries that have frozen their funds and have made it clear that “we must wait for the results of the investigation.”

Turkey has also advocated for the reactivation of the funds.

Abbas says campaign against UNRWA seeks to “liquidate” refugee issue

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has denounced that “the campaign led by Israel to discredit the work of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) aims to settle the issue of displaced people, one of the central issues in 75 years of conflict”.

All over the world there are some 6 million Palestinian refugees -especially in Lebanon, Jordan and within the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip-, and many of them in need of the humanitarian aid that since 1948 UNRWA has provided.

In the midst of the war in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA is responsible for the distribution of the scarce humanitarian aid on which more than 2 million Palestinians in the enclave depend, almost its entire population, in the worst humanitarian catastrophe experienced by the Palestinian people.

Guterres calls for a transparent investigation and promises that crimes will be prosecuted if there are any.

Both the commissioner of the UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini; as the secretary general of the UN, Antonio Guterresthey have asked for a transparent investigation about the alleged involvement of its personnel in the October 7 attacks; while have demanded that the nine countries that have cut funding to the agency reconsider their stance because it could force the end of its activities.

There is already an open investigation by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, the organization’s highest investigative authority; and UNRWA terminated the contracts of its employees suspected of collaborating with Hamas.

Guterres has explained that of the twelve members mentioned for their alleged involvement in the Palestinian militia attacks against Israel on October 7, nine were immediately identified and fired by UNRWA leadership, another of them is dead and the identity of the remaining two is being investigated.

“Any UN worker involved in acts of terrorism will be held accountable, including through criminal proceedings. The (UN) Secretariat is ready to cooperate with the competent authorities to ensure that individuals are prosecuted in accordance with established procedures” Guterres noted in an official statement.

Guterres has said that “two million civilians in Gaza depend on UNRWA aid for their daily survival, but the funds that UNRWA currently has will not allow it to cover the needs for February”, therefore, although he “understands” the reservations of the countries that have announced the suspension, has stressed that “the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA in the most dangerous situations should not be penalized.”