UK reinstates funding to UNRWA

UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has announced that the UK will lift the pause on funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) six months after halting it.

In his first statement to members of parliament, the foreign secretary outlined that “the UK will release £21 million [$27 million] to support its lifesaving work in Gaza and the provision of basic services in the region.”

This funding will go towards UNRWA’s flash appeal for Gaza and the West Bank, the statement said, which focuses its resources on emergency food, shelter and other support for three million people, as well as its wider work supporting six million Palestinian refugees across the region.

“Humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe and it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground,” Lammy told parliament. “UNRWA is absolutely central to these efforts. No other agency can get aid into Gaza at the scale needed.”

The UK suspended its aid payments to UNRWA in January after Israel alleged that 12 of the agency’s thousands of staff had taken part in the cross border attack on towns and cities in Israel on 7 October. However, since the allegations were made, no proof has been provided for the claims and a number of countries have since reinstated their payments to the UN body. Activist have highlighted that Israel made the allegations on the same day that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide and the incitement of genocide in Gaza.

READ: Israel’s Anti-UNRWA Campaign Falls Flat

Addressing the claims, Lammy said: “We are reassured that after Catherine Colonna’s independent review, UNRWA is ensuring they meet the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures, including on vetting.”

UNRWA has acted. Partners like Japan, the EU and Norway have now acted. This Government will act too.

Today’s announcement brings the UK into line with Germany, the EU, Sweden, Japan, France and other donors.

Israel has repeatedly equated UNRWA staff with Hamas members in efforts to discredit them, providing no proof of the claims, while lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.