The European Union called on Monday, January 29, for an audit of the functioning of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) following allegations of possible involvement of some of its staff in the October 7 Hamas attack. 2023 in Israel. “We ask you to agree to an audit by independent experts selected by the European Commission,” said their spokesman Eric Mamer.
The European Commission said in a statement that it would decide whether or not to suspend its funding of UNRWA “in light of the outcome of the investigation announced by the UN and the measures it will take.” She added that no payments were expected until the end of February. “It is completely normal that we demand that these allegations be clarified and investigated when we are one of the main donors of humanitarian and development assistance to the Palestinians,” Mr Mamer added.
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According to Israel, the United Nations said on Friday that 12 UNRWA employees were suspected of being involved in “allegedly heinous acts” during the Hamas attack on Israeli soil.
So far, ten countries have suspended their funding
So far, ten countries have announced that they will suspend all future funding for the UN agency. The United States immediately announced on Friday the temporary suspension of all future financial contributions, followed by Canada, Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Austria.
For its part, Switzerland said it was waiting for more information before deciding on its aid to UNRWA, as did France, which, however, announced on Sunday that it does not plan to make a “new payment” to the organization for the first quarter of the year. Norway, on the other hand, announced that it is maintaining its financing.
Israel, hoping to “stop” all the agency's activities, has said it wants to ensure that UNRWA “will not be part” of the solution in Palestinian territory following the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement. For the Palestinian Authority, however, UNRWA needs “maximum support” and “not that support and assistance be stopped.”
Services and operations at risk “beyond the end of February.”
“If funding is not restored, UNRWA will not be able to continue its services and operations in the region, including Gaza, beyond the end of February,” a UNRWA spokesperson said. UNRWA, according to Portal. The UN agency distanced itself from the employees involved.
Founded in 1949 after the first Israeli-Palestinian war, UNRWA provides health, education and humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. According to the 2022 list, the main donors are the USA, Germany and the European Union.
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Their role is crucial in supporting the population of the Gaza Strip, which has been under Israeli fire since October 7, 2023. Hamas' attack on Israeli soil resulted in the deaths of around 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures. In response, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, and launched a massive military operation that left 26,422 people dead, the vast majority of them women, children and adolescents, according to the Ministry of Health's latest report Islamist movement.