Israel Hamas war: UK urged to restore funding to UNRWA Gaza aid agency after independent report reveals no terrorism link
Aid agencies have urged the UK to restore funding to Gaza aid agency UNRWA after an independent report stated Israel has no proof of the organisation's employees' involvement in the October 7 attacks.Many governments around the world, including the UK, suspended funding to UNRWA after Israel claimed 12 of its 13,000 staff members had been involved in the attacks. However, the Independent Review Group chaired by former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, on Monday said there was no proof UNRWA staff were members of terrorist groups. Some governments restored funding in the weeks after the allegations earlier this year. However, the UK has not.
The UK provided £35 million last financial year to UNRWA, including £16m extra for humanitarian aid. Among those to have restored funding are the EU, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Germany, France and Japan.
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Hide AdActionAid said it "makes little sense for the UK to provide aid to Gaza while simultaneously withholding funding from the key organisation".
Julia Rosell Jackson, senior humanitarian advocacy adviser for women's rights at ActionAid UK, said: “With most of the population of Gaza displaced from their homes and hundreds of thousands of people facing famine, which hits women and girls the hardest in conflict, it is imperative that the UK restores funding to UNRWA, as most other donor countries have already done. As the largest humanitarian actor in Gaza, UNRWA plays a crucial and unique role as a lifeline for 2.2 million Palestinians who – after six months of bombardment – rely on aid to survive.
"It makes little sense for the UK to provide aid to Gaza while simultaneously withholding funding from the key organisation, which is best placed to co-ordinate and support its distribution. If the UK really wants to help the desperate people of Gaza, it must restore funding to UNRWA immediately, stop selling arms to Israel and use every diplomatic lever available to demand a permanent ceasefire now.”
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN secretary-general António Guterres, said UNRWA had agreed to follow recommendations laid out in the report.
He said: “The Secretary-General counts on the co-operation of the donor community, the host countries and the staff to fully co-operate in the implementation of the recommendations. Moving forward, the Secretary-General appeals to all stakeholders to actively support UNRWA, as it is a lifeline for Palestine refugees in the region.”
Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said: “I welcome the findings and recommendations of the independent review led by of the UNRWA adherence to the humanitarian principle of neutrality. Safeguarding the agency’s neutrality is central to our ability to continue delivering life-saving aid in Gaza and education and primary health services across the region.”
He added: “The report confirms that the agency has the systems in place and that it acts to address allegations of neutrality breaches.”
Thousands of UNWRA staff, most of them themselves refugees, have still been working in the camps throughout the conflict. At least 152 UNRWA staff have been killed since the conflict began.
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