The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has become the latest collateral damage of the war in Gaza.
Israel and some sectors of the Republican Party in the United States have been campaigning for its closure for years, considering that it contributes to perpetuating the Middle East conflict and educates hatred in its schools.
Now, the dismissal of nine of its 12 local employees (one is dead and the identity of the other two is being clarified) for alleged involvement in the Hamas attack on October 7 has generated a string of funding cessation announcements that It would deprive him of most of his income, just at a critical time in Gaza, where he manages shelters that house 40% of the population and continues to provide food and health aid.
The first to announce that it will turn off the tap was its main donor last year, the United States, on Thursday.
Since then, at least nine others have joined: Germany - the second largest contributor - the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, Canada and Estonia.
The UNRWA budget depends mainly on voluntary contributions from countries, which is why the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, asked them this Sunday to “at least guarantee the continuity of operations” of the agency while some accusations are investigated. that they have “horrified” him.
He is even considering bringing to criminal trial – an unusual initiative – any worker whose involvement in “acts of terrorism” is proven.
“The tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many of them in the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized.
The acute needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met,” the Secretary General requested in a statement.
More information
Last minute of the war between Israel and Gaza
UNRWA was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, at the end of the first Arab-Israeli war and as a result of the Nakba, the flight or expulsion of two thirds of the Palestinians from the territory of the State of Israel that had just been born.
Its mandate is to provide them with humanitarian assistance and protection until their situation is resolved.
During the existence of this organization, refugees have gone from 750,000 to almost six million, because descendants inherit the status.
The agency not only operates in Gaza, but also provides services to another 4.4 million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
The main domain is education, to which it allocates more than half of its funds, but it also runs clinics, delivers food and clothing or gives microcredits.
Almost all of its staff are local.
The fear of the cessation of activity is centered above all now in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians make their umpteenth forced displacement to flee the city of Khan Younis, where the Israeli army operates strongly, towards Rafah, further south and on the border with Egypt.
A million people are crowded into their shelters.
Like almost all of Gaza, many of UNRWA's thousands of employees are refugees and at least 150 have been killed in the Israeli offensive.
The head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, regretted the chain decision on Saturday, not only because of the implications for the population, but because the agency itself immediately fired the employees involved before even determining their guilt.
“These decisions threaten our humanitarian work throughout the region, including and especially in Gaza.
"It is shocking to see a suspension of funds in reaction to the accusations against a small group of staff, especially given the immediate measures that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and requesting an independent and transparent investigation," he added before recalling that some 3,000 of the 13,000 core personnel in Gaza continue to work, despite the war.
It is, in Lazzarini's opinion, an "immensely irresponsible" decision.
The European Union, the third largest donor, has assured that it will “evaluate new measures” and awaits the result of “a complete and exhaustive investigation.”
France, which contributed almost 60 million euros to UNRWA in 2023, did not have any payments planned for this first half of the year, so "it will decide when the time comes what measures to take", given the "exceptional seriousness" of the accusations, he said. indicated its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
“Please resign”
Israel, which provided the United Nations with the information that led to the employees' dismissal, has raised the tone.
His new Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, responded to a tweet by the head of UNRWA regretting the decision with a single sentence in English: “Mr.
Lazzarini, please resign.”
He had previously called for the agency's leadership to be fired and “investigated in depth about its knowledge” of “ties with Hamas” and – particularly relevant when the face of post-war Gaza is being debated – its replacement by “agencies dedicated to to true peace and development” for the reconstruction of the Strip.
Mr. Lazzarini please resign.@UNLazzarini https://t.co/QKbrz7G9aB
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) January 27, 2024
The controversy has once again highlighted the gap between Western countries, mainly those closest to Israel (those that have cut off financing), and the Arab-Muslim world around Gaza.
The Arab League has issued a statement after a meeting of its permanent delegates in which it asks the countries that have announced the snip to back down so as not to "burden UNRWA with the weight of unjust Israeli accusations against some" of its members. workers, warns of the “danger” it poses to several generations of Palestinian refugees and frames the measure in the “systematic Israeli campaign to harm” the agency.
The president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of wanting to “liquidate the issue of Palestinian refugees” with its “campaign” against UNRWA, and the countries that will stop financing it of “disproportionately punishing millions of people” .
One of its strong men, Hussein Al Sheikh, called on countries to “immediately reverse” the decision, due to the “political and humanitarian” dangers it entails at a time when the Palestinians need “the maximum support” of the agency. .
In a harsher tone, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, expressed himself “surprised” and wondered aloud if the action is “linked to the policy of collective punishment against civilians in Gaza.”
UNRWA has been balancing for years to maintain its sources of income and, in fact, has had to make cuts and layoffs.
It already experienced a similar crisis in 2018, when Donald Trump announced that the United States (also then the main donor) would only contribute 60 million dollars (56 million euros) that year, compared to 364 million in 2017. Half of the hole was covered four Gulf countries: United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the then president for “starting to solve the problem” and called for the end of UNRWA, while his diplomacy called it an “illegitimate instrument aimed at the destruction of the State of Israel.”
Follow all the international information on
and
X
, or in
our weekly newsletter
.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I am already a subscriber
_