UNRWA stops rent payments for 1,612 families in Gaza

UNRWA has taken the “painful” decision to stop paying the rent for 1,612 Palestinian families in Gaza whose homes were demolished during Israel’s 2014 assault on the Strip, the organisation’s head of operations said.

“We need between $300-400 million to provide our services in 2019,” Matthias Schmale said, pointing out that the current year has been difficult for UNRWA at the political and financial levels, especially after the United States cut off its support to the agency.

He added that despite the financial crisis, UNRWA continues to provide services to Palestinian refugees.

According to Schmale, the measures also include dismissing 116 UNRWA staff.

Schmale said the school year would not be affected by the cuts, adding that there is “a strong sign of a collective effort to safeguard its [UNRWA’s] programmes”.

Read: Closing UNRWA will not alter Israel’s role in creating Palestine refugees

UNRWA and Palestinian refugees are being treated unfairly – Cartoon [AlArabi21News/Twitter]