EU split over funding cuts for UNRWA

The European Union on Monday announced a review of its funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and that payments would be stopped until the end of February.

The EU demanded an “urgent audit” following the allegations by the Israeli authorities that some UNRWA staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attack.

“What is absolutely clear is that these actions are urgent. They are important and they should be launched without any delay," European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said.

The audit must be led by EU-appointed experts and conducted alongside a UN investigation into the claims, a commission statement said. The statement added that humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “will continue unabated through partner organisations.”

UNRWA WARNS OF HUMANITARIAN DISASTER

The Wall Street Journal reported, quoting an Israeli dossier, that 10% of Palestinian UNRWA employees “have close links” to terror organisations operating in Gaza.

The New York Times reported previously, referring to the dossier, that one UNRWA employee had been involved in the kidnapping of a woman from Israel, another had distributed ammunition and a third employee had been involved in a massacre in a kibbutz in which 97 people died.

The dossier contains allegations against a total of 12 UNRWA employees. Washington categorises them as credible.

In response, UNRWA fired several staff members over Israel’s accusations, which have prompted numerous countries, including the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Japan, to announce they were suspending further funding to the UN agency.

The UN agency’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the funding suspensions as “shocking,” stressing that more than 2 million people in Gaza “depend on UNRWA for their mere survival.”

He urged the countries to “reconsider their decisions”. UNRWA said it would have to end operations within a month if funding was not restored.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has described UNRWA as the “centrepiece” of humanitarian care for the people of the Gaza Strip.

The life-saving work of UNRWA in the course of the war “should not be jeopardised by accusations of the alleged actions of a few individuals," said Griffiths at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday.

Griffiths was appalled by the allegations and said that all efforts would therefore be made to guarantee the world’s demands for a politically neutral organization.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has promised an urgent independent review of UNRWA but also pleaded for donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of the agency for the sake of “the desperate populations” it serves.

At an EU leaders summit on Thursday, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell warned that hundreds of thousands of people would perish if funding ceased.

“If you cut the funding to UNRWA, you are punishing the whole Palestinian people. There is no alternative to UNRWA... if you want to keep these people alive. So, no collective punishment to the Palestinian people,” he stressed.

AUSTRIA, CROATIA, GERMANY, ROMANIA AND SWEDEN TO SUSPEND PAYMENTS

The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it has suspended its voluntary payments to UNRWA. “Until the investigation is concluded, the ministry will not make any new voluntary contributions to UNRWA,” the ministry said.

Croatia did not plan any donations to UNRWA in 2024. Previously, it made donations “only exceptionally, upon appeal,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry stated that “the allegations... are deeply shocking and extremely disturbing”.

All contributions to UNRWA have been suspended “until all these allegations have been fully clarified," the statement added.

Sweden, traditionally a strong ally of UNRWA, has decided to pause the funding while the Swedish development agency, SIDA, is investigating the situation.

“I share the view that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is horrible. Sweden wants to help the civilian population, but we need to make sure that the support is not being used for the wrong things,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a press conference.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who suspended the aid for the moment, demanded quick investigations. “The situation in Gaza is simply hell,” Baerbock said on Wednesday in Berlin. UNRWA is almost the sole provider of supplies in Gaza, as all other aid organizations there “can hardly be active at the moment”, she said.

Last year, Germany funded UNRWA with a total of €206.5 million ($223 million). According to the German Foreign Ministry, Germany will not authorize new payments for the time of the investigation. In any case, no new commitments are currently pending.

CALLS FOR EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DEBATE

The conservative European People’s Party is requesting a debate on UNRWA’s alleged participation in the Hamas attacks at next week’s European Parliament sitting in Strasbourg, the Swedish MEP David Lega, member of the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, announced on X.

“There can be no business as usual – we must once and for all stop funding terrorism,” he wrote.

POSSIBLE DEAL?

The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli secret service Mossad informed the ministers of the war cabinet on Monday of the outlines of a possible truce agreement.

This involves the release of 35 female, sick, injured and elderly Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, in a first phase in which the fighting would pause for 35 days.

This would be followed by a further one-week ceasefire, during which the negotiators would also attempt to release young men and hostages who Hamas considers to be soldiers.

A central point that is not yet resolved is a Hamas demand that the agreement provide for a permanent ceasefire, which Israel has ruled out.

The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, AGERPRES, ANSA, APA, Belga, dpa, EFE, HINA, STA, TT as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project.