Spain to give UNRWA extra $3.8m after key donors suspend aid

Spain will send the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) an additional €3.5 million ($3.8m) in aid, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told lawmakers on Monday.

The extra funding has been agreed following the move by 15 major donors to UNRWA, including the US and Germany, suspended funding after allegations were made by Israel that 12 of its tens of thousands of Palestinian employees were suspected of involvement in the 7 October incursion, Reuters has reported.

“UNRWA’s situation is desperate and there is a serious risk that its humanitarian activities will be paralysed in Gaza within a few weeks,” Albares told lawmakers.

Madrid contributed €18.5m directly to UNRWA in 2023, including €10m approved in December following the decision to triple development and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories.

On Friday, neighbouring Portugal announced additional aid to UNRWA worth one million euros. Foreign Minister Joao Cravinho wrote on social media that it was essential “not to turn our backs on the Palestinian population at this difficult time.”

One Palestinian commentator has compared the unquestioned response of the key donors to unproven allegations by the apartheid state with their response to credible allegations of child rape and sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers in 2021. No aid was frozen in that instance. “The disparity in the two UN cases is a stark illustration of the clearly evident Western bias, and how it’s driven by the victims’/victimisers’ race rather than a commitment to justice and fairness,” said Jamal Kanj.

READ: The Elders urge UNRWA donors to resume funding immediately