UK donates $4.7m to UNRWA's Gaza fund

The United Kingdom has contributed an additional $4.7 million to the UNRWA Flash Appeal for Gaza, the UN announced on yesterday.

The funding will help UNRWA meet the urgent shelter needs of Palestine refugees in Gaza as winter sets in. The donation will provide rental assistance to 30,000 vulnerable individuals – over 5,000 families, whose homes were severely damaged or destroyed in the recent Israeli war on the enclave.

Announcing the donation, the head of the Department for International Development (DFID)’s Palestinian Programme Robin Milton said: “The UK is delivering on its promises made at the Cairo conference. This $4.7 million will help meet urgent needs as winter sets in.”

He continued: “We are standing by the people of Gaza at this difficult time. We call on all donors to step up reconstruction efforts. The events in Gaza this summer took a terrible toll. We need to see lasting change in Gaza.”

Thanking the UK government for its longstanding support, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl said: “I am very grateful for this important additional contribution from the UK which is so urgently needed by homeless families in Gaza.”

“We urge donors to fulfil pledges made at the Cairo conference for the reconstruction of Gaza. In addition to urgently needed humanitarian aid and reconstruction, firm political action is required to address the underlying causes of the conflict, including the blockade and occupation.”

The UK has provided $26.6 million in humanitarian support to people in Gaza this summer, supporting a range of essential services provided by UNRWA, the World Food Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross and local NGOs.

DFID announced an additional $31.3 million contribution at the Cairo conference. This latest contribution brings to $7.8 million the funding DFID has disbursed so far.