The noose is tightening around the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). After the United States on Friday, it is the turn of Italy, Australia and Canada to announce, on Saturday January 27, the suspension of their financing of the institution. These statements come after accusations by Israel that UNRWA employees may have been involved in the bloody Hamas attack on October 7.
On Saturday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said “deeply concerned” by the accusations against UNRWA. “We are speaking with our partners and will temporarily suspend the payment of recent funding”she wrote on the social network X. Her Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, also revealed on Saturday on “funding of UNRWA after the atrocious Hamas attack on Israel on October 7”.
“ We are committed to providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population, protecting the security of Israel.”he assured. Traveling to Milan, Mr. Tajani estimated, on this Holocaust Remembrance Day, that “the“anti-Semitism and Hamas are the new SS, the new Gestapo, because the hunt for the Jew was carried out in a scientific manner.” He also called for “respect the rights of the Palestinian civilian population”. On Saturday afternoon, London in turn announced to suspend “temporarily” his aid to UNRWA, saying “dismayed” by the accusations against the UN agency.
For his part, the head of Israeli diplomacy, Israel Katz, affirmed on Saturday that Israel counts “ensure that UNRWA will not be part” of the solution in Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas, hoping ” put an end to ” all agency activities.
The day before, Friday, the United States, the main contributors to UNRWA, had announced to suspend “temporarily” any additional funding to the UN agency. In a statement, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller explained that the United States is “extremely concerned by accusations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the attack.” The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, spoke with the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, in order to “highlight the need for a rapid and thorough investigation into this matter”.
Attacks on UNRWA shelter
Faced with these accusations, the management of UNRWA announced on Friday that it had separated from several employees, accused of being involved in the Hamas attack on October 7. “To protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian aid, I have decided to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and open an investigation.”said in a press release the head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, for whom “any employee involved in acts of terrorism will be held accountable, including through legal proceedings.”
Hamas, for its part, demanded in a statement “the United Nations and international organizations not to give in to threats and blackmail” of Israel, accusing Israel of wanting “cut off funds and deprive” the population of Gaza from any international aid. For the secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein Al-Sheick, UNRWA needs “ maximum support » And “not that we cut off support and assistance”. “We call on countries that have announced the cessation of their support to UNRWA to immediately reverse their decision, which involves serious risks” for humanitarian assistance, Mr. Al-Sheikh also replied.
These accusations come in a tense context between UNRWA and Israel. The UN agency accused two Israeli tanks of firing on Wednesday at one of its training centers, located in Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Transformed into a shelter since the start of the war, it shelters tens of thousands of displaced people. Thirteen people were killed and more than fifty-six injured, including twenty-one in critical condition, in these strikes, according to the agency.
Mr. Lazzarini had denounced a “flagrant violation of the fundamental rules of war”. The Israeli army, for its part, announced a “thorough examination” of its operations in the area concerned, without ruling out the possibility of a Hamas strike. The Israeli army, however, is the only force in the Gaza Strip to deploy tanks.