Middle East
Germany is not approving any new funds for UNRWA for the time being
Ela Bahat touches a picture of her 30-year-old son Dror: On October 7th, many people were killed in the Hamas attack. Were UN staff involved? photo
© Leo Correa/AP/dpa
Israel accuses employees of the Palestinian aid agency UNRWA of being involved in Hamas’ terrorist attacks. Many countries and the UN itself are horrified – including Germany.
Germany wants to do so because of the alleged involvement of some employees of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency UNRWA will not initially approve any new funds for the organization following the Hamas massacre in Israel. “Until the clarification is complete, Germany, in coordination with other donor countries, will temporarily not approve any new funds for UNWRA in Gaza,” the Foreign Office and the Development Ministry announced on Saturday evening in Berlin. In any case, there are currently no new commitments pending, it said.
At the same time, the ministries emphasized that humanitarian aid for the Palestinians was continuing. A few days ago, funding for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN children’s fund Unicef was increased by seven million euros. UNWRA is vital for the basic needs of the Palestinian population. It was “absolutely right” that UNRWA acted immediately in light of the allegations against staff and that Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini “took immediate action”.
Financing of basic supplies
Since October 7, humanitarian aid provided through UNRWA and development cooperation funds have been used to finance basic supplies such as water, food, emergency shelter, hygiene and sanitation as well as medical supplies for the people in the Gaza Strip and in particular for the families who have fled to the south of the region , it continued.
According to its own information, the federal government supported the UN relief organization UNRWA with more than 200 million euros in 2023 alone. Other Western countries are also important donors to UNRWA.
Israel had provided the aid organization with information that twelve of the organization’s several thousand employees in the Gaza Strip were said to have been involved in the bloodbath. They were immediately released. Lazzarini and UN Secretary-General António Guterres were horrified and threatened those affected with criminal consequences. In the attacks on October 7, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups murdered more than 1,200 people in Israel. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to Palestinian figures, more than 26,000 people were killed as a result.