The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has said over two million people depend on the UN aid for survival and the decisions by the countries to pause humanitarian funding could affect many lives in the region. UN aid
It has been over 112 days since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 as a series of defensive bombardments claiming the lives of many innocent children and their families rage on.
Several attempts have been made to call for a ceasefire but have all fallen at the first fence, as global concerns rise over the harsh living conditions of the Palestinian refugees and especially people in Gaza.
According to Sky News, the suspension of funding by countries including the UK and US followed allegations UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.
The commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini expressed in a press interview that the decisions by the UK and others to suspend their humanitarian support for the people in the region can lead to “collapse” of the ”lifeline” they receive from the UN staff “anytime due to lack of funding”. UN aid
“These decisions threaten our ongoing humanitarian work across the region including and especially in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
“UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over two million people depending on it for their sheer survival.
“Some 3,000 core staff out of 13,000 in Gaza continue to report to work, giving their communities a lifeline which can collapse anytime now due to lack of funding,” he added.
The agency, however, reiterated its commitment to supporting the people desperately in need in Gaza as well as investigating the alleged involvement of employees in the “heinous” invasion of Israel.
The Foreign Office, following the allegations, confirmed that it was “temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA” in order to review situations around the allegations.
A source said this comes after a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “documented, clear and ironclad” information showing 12 UNRWA staff members were part of the Hamas force that broke into Israel and killed 1,200 civilians.
According to Mark Regev, a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a large proportion of the information that prompted the accusations was shared on social media by Hamas.
He said, “Hamas went live on social media and boasted a lot of the material, so you actually see the faces and the people involved in a lot of the crimes.
Regev also informed that these claims are “just the tip of the iceberg” and the allegations over the UNRWA staff involvement in Hamas “terrorist” operations was “not an aberration” and that this investigation was “just the tip of the iceberg”. UN aid
UK and others pause funding over claims of staff’s involvement in October 7 Hamas attack— UN aid agency says the decisions threaten ongoing humanitarian work across the region.
