UNRWA in turmoil. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East, the heart of the humanitarian response in Gaza, announced on Friday, January 26, that it had parted ways with several of its employees accused of taking part in the bloody attack of October 7th to have been involved by Hamas on Israeli soil.
Following this announcement, several Western countries decided to stop any further aid to the agency. In particular, it has been called on by several countries to conduct a “thorough investigation into these allegations”. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, took the view that the program needed “maximum support” and “not that support and assistance need to be stopped.” Franceinfo takes stock of the controversy plaguing the UN body.
1 What is UNRWA?
Established by the UN General Assembly at the end of December 1949, the agency is an essential resource for millions of Palestinians. It emerged after the outbreak of the first Arab-Israeli conflict after the founding of the Jewish state in May 1948. Between April and August 1948, more than 700,000 Palestinians fled their country. An episode they call “Nakba,” or catastrophe in Arabic.
The agency has since been tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees “until a just and lasting solution to their situation is found.” In addition to the Palestinian territories, UNRWA operates in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. By default, it is the only guarantee of the international status of these refugees.
UNRWA employs more than 30,000 staff, most of them Palestinian refugees themselves, and a small number of international staff, spread across two central offices (Gaza and Amman), five field offices (Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and West Bank) and four representative offices (New York , Geneva, Brussels and Cairo)”, we can read on the agency's website.
In total, around 5.9 million Palestinians are registered with this program and can therefore benefit from numerous services in the areas of education, health care, social services or emergency aid, even in times of armed conflict. More than 540,000 children study in the agency's 706 schools, which also manages around 60 refugee camps, including 19 in the occupied West Bank.
2 What are the agency accused of?
In a press release posted on its website on Friday, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazarini announced his decision to part ways with several agency staff. “Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks against Israel on October 7,” he said, without providing details on the number of employees affected or the exact facts on which they were charged.
“In order to protect the agency's ability to provide humanitarian assistance, I have decided to immediately terminate the contracts of these employees and to launch an immediate investigation to establish the truth,” added Philippe Lazarini, assuring that “every UNRWA employee is persons, Those involved in terrorist attacks will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
3 Which countries have stopped funding?
Minutes after the UN agency's announcement, Washington announced it would “temporarily suspend” all additional funding for the UN agency. The United States said it was “extremely concerned by allegations that 12 UNRWA employees may have been involved in the attack,” a State Department statement said. Anthony Blinken, head of American diplomacy, spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to “highlight the need for a rapid investigation into this matter,” his services said.
After the USA, other donors such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Italy and Finland have also withdrawn. Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on countries that have suspended their donations to “at least guarantee the continuation of the agency's operations,” which are vital for two million civilians in the Gaza Strip. For their part, Norway and Ireland showed their support for UNRWA and said that funding would continue.
Switzerland, for its part, announced on Saturday that no decision would be made on disbursing its aid to UNRWA until “further information” is available. A warning also shared by France, which simply stated that it had “read with dismay the information communicated by UNRWA (…)”, without explaining its position on financial support to the organization. Finally, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said he expected “complete transparency” and “immediate action” before any decision.
The program has a lot at stake because it is funded almost entirely by voluntary donations from states. The top donors in 2022 included, in order, the United States, Germany, the European Union, Sweden and Norway, the agency states on its website. Funds from the regular UN budget and contributions from other UN agencies amounted to 44.6 million US dollars (41 million euros) in the same year. With almost 27 million euros disbursed in 2022, France is in seventh place in the donor ranking. On Saturday, the agency did not respond to announcements about the funding suspension.
4 What future does the agency have?
On Saturday, Israel said it no longer wanted UNRWA to play any role in Gaza following the conflict. The Israeli government wants to ensure that the agency “will not be part” of the post-war solution in this Palestinian territory, explained Israel Katz, Israeli Foreign Minister, and hopes to “stop” all its activities. The diplomat called on other UNRWA donors to follow the withdrawal movement and give preference to organizations that are “sincerely committed to peace and development.”
After welcoming the withdrawal of certain donors, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid weighed in X that it is time to “create an alternative that will not educate generations of Palestinians to hate.” In a statement, Hamas called on “the United Nations and international organizations not to give in to threats and blackmail” and accused Israel of wanting to “cut off funds and deprive Gazans of all international assistance.”
The case came to light on Friday, shortly after the United Nations' highest court called on Israel to prevent any possible “genocide” in Gaza. A “temporality that inevitably raises questions,” said Johann Soufi, international lawyer and former director of the UNRWA legal office in Gaza. “Sanctioning UNRWA, which is struggling to keep the entire population of Gaza alive, because of the alleged responsibility of a few employees amounts to collective punishment of the population of Gaza, who live in catastrophic humanitarian conditions,” he warned. 'AFP.