Germany freezes aid to UNRWA in the Gaza Strip

Germany freezes aid to UNRWA in the Gaza Strip

The allparty support in Germany for ending the aid came amid the discovery that Palestinian educational materials were being used to teach hate, glorify jihad and glorify antiSemitism.

The German Development Ministry has announced that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) budget and operational assistance in Gaza will only be restored in accordance with the new order after an internal review of its aid portfolio. to the Palestinians.

“UNRWA does not contribute to a peaceful solution,” said Green Party politician and human rights activist Max Lucks, adding that “not a single cent from Germany should go to the teachers who glorify Hamas terrorism.”

Michael Brand of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Germany’s second largest party, told the press: “The UNRWA system failed because it enabled terror against the Palestinians and Israel and because little help actually reached the people.” We urgently need others Ways to ensure that help reaches those who deserve it for a better life prospect.”

“In my opinion, after the fighting ends, a new initiative should be launched that, on the one hand, guarantees Israel’s security and, on the other hand, gives the Palestinians a real future. This new organization with or without the UN must also be accepted by the states in the region and offer real alternatives. In my opinion, there can be no status quo at UNRWA,” said MP Falko Drossman, a member of the Social Democrats (SDP).

UNRWA the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East was founded in 1949 after the ArabIsraeli War of 1948. It began operations in May 1950.

Today, the UN agency provides education, health care and social services to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The organization invests half of its budget in education and operates more than 700 schools.

UNRWA receives almost its entire budget from voluntary donations from UN member states. In 2022, donations totaled $1.17 billion. In January 2023, the organization asked the global community to increase its budget to $1.63 billion.

The US drastically reduced its funding in 2018 at the request of President Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly criticized the United Nations and UNRWA in particular. However, money started flowing out of Washington again. The United States provides the largest support to UNRWA, followed by Germany, the European Union and Sweden.