Global backlash grows against UNRWA funding suspension for Palestinian refugee agency

Today, new governmental and human rights positions emerged against the suspension of funding by America and other countries to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which Israel accuses some of its elements of playing a role in the Al Aqsa Flood operation on October 7th.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister stated that he urges donor countries to consider the broader consequences of stopping UNRWA’s services. “We cannot abandon the Palestinian people, and this is the wrong time to suspend funding for UNRWA,” he added.

Reuters quoted the Prime Minister of Australia saying that they do not want people to be “literally starving” in Gaza, and UNRWA is the only one that can provide support there. He added that Australia is considering the accusations against UNRWA with other countries and wants to “resolve the matter.”

The United States announced on January 27th the suspension of its funding for the agency. Similarly, nine other countries made comparable decisions, based on Israel’s claim that employees working for the agency were involved in the Al Aqsa Flood operation, launched by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – on October 7th, 2023.

Imminent Famine

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said today, Sunday, that suspending funding for UNRWA amidst an imminent famine in Gaza amounts to “conspiracy and complicity” in the crime of genocide, according to Reuters.

The monitor warned of “catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza,” as “no other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need” describing the decision as a “potential avenue for prosecuting severe violations like war crimes and genocide.”

It added that this comes as a fulfillment of the eternal Israeli policies and projects aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause and stripping the Palestinian people, especially the refugees, of their rights guaranteed by international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.

The observatory pointed out that the Israeli army continued at the same pace to kill civilians en masse and individually and starve them in Gaza, since the issuance of the International Court of Justice’s decision that obligated Israel to take measures to prevent the commission of the crime of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Internal Recommendation

In Israel, Channel 12 reported that senior army officers had recommended to the Chief of Staff to stop the campaign to discredit UNRWA, at least for now, reports Al-Jazeera.

The officers’ recommendation stated that the Israeli leaks about UNRWA were not organized. They expressed their fear that the campaign to discredit UNRWA, before finding an alternative to it, would have negative results in Gaza.

It is noted that UNRWA provides its services to about 5.9 million people, approximately two-thirds of whom live in 58 recognized refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the occupied West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. In 2022, the number of students registered in the agency’s schools was 544,710.