Qatar announces extra $25 million donation to UNRWA

The Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN, Ambassador Alya Al-Thani, has announced the provision of additional support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) worth $25 million. The Qatari envoy affirmed full solidarity with UNRWA and condemned the ongoing attempts to close the agency down.

The ambassador also condemned the Israeli massacre of unarmed civilians in Gaza who were waiting for aid trucks, noting that the situation is catastrophic in the besieged enclave. She called on the international community to bind Israel to international law and provide protection for the Palestinian people.

She also condemned the campaign against UNRWA, noting that there is no alternative to the agency to help Palestinian refugees, and called on the countries that have suspended their support to review their decisions and make urgently-needed donations. Almost all of UNRWA’s funding comes from voluntary donations by UN member states.

Speaking at the same session, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned against dismantling the agency, a move which Israel is demanding.

“Dismantling UNRWA is a reckless step,” said Lazzarini. “By doing so, we will sacrifice an entire generation of children and sow the seeds of hatred and resentment and the outbreak of a future conflict.” It is naïve, he added, to believe that the agency’s demise can occur without threatening global peace and security. The official pointed out that sixteen countries have temporarily suspended their funding to the agency, worth a total of $450 million.

Those countries, led by the US and some in Europe, including the UK, stopped funding UNRWA after Israel claimed, without providing any evidence, that 12 of the agency’s 13,000 employees in the Gaza Strip participated in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October. Israel has killed “at least” 152 UNRWA employees in Gaza since October.

READ: Egypt condemns targeting of UNRWA