The Presidency today welcomed the report of the Independent Review Group on Israeli allegations regarding 12 UNRWA personnel.
It stated that the report of the Independent Review Group, led by Catherine Colonna, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, which refutes Israeli allegations, serves as a call for all states that have decided to cut off funding to the United Nations agency to revisit their decisions and reinstate funding to the agency, given its vital role in providing humanitarian relief to Palestinian refugees, particularly in the blockaded Gaza Strip, which has been subject to an unprecedented genocidal and starvation war by the Israeli occupation authorities.
It expressed appreciation of the decisions of many states which have reinstated funding to UNRWA and the decision of major countries, such as the US, Germany and France, to consider reinstating their funding to the agency, while affirming that this step was in the right direction towards reinstating full funding to the agency, which provides relief aid to approximately 6.4 million refugees, including a million refugees who are exposed to ongoing Israeli aggression.
It stressed that the refugee problem is the essence of the Palestinian Question, and that this conflict could not be solved without a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian refugee problem in line with the United Nations resolutions, notably UN Resolution 194. It also stressed that UNRWA’s role still stands in line with UN General Assembly Resolution 302, under which it was established on 18 December 1949, and all United Nations resolutions related to Palestinian refugees.
The Colonna report, which was commissioned by the UN to look at UNRWA’s operations and policies in the wake of Israel’s allegations and released on Monday, said Israeli authorities have not responded to letters from UNRWA in March and April requesting names and evidence in order to open an investigation.
The Israeli government, according to the independent review, “has not informed UNRWA of any concrete concerns relating to UNRWA staff since 2011”.
In late January, Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the 7 October attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and over 200 were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
As a result of the allegations, UNRWA terminated the contracts of 10 of the employees (two were confirmed dead) and 16 countries paused or froze their financial contributions to the agency, amounting to around 50 percent of the agency’s budget for the year.
Several countries that froze their contributions, including Australia, Canada and Finland, have since lifted those suspensions, with some citing a lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, in the US, UNRWA’s largest donor, Congress passed legislation last month that cuts off funding to the agency for the next year.
At the time the funding was cut, UNRWA said the decision would force the agency, the largest organisation operating in Gaza, into a dire situation with lives hanging in the balance.
In addition to its efforts in Gaza, UNRWA delivers essential services including education and healthcare to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees overall across the region, described in Colonna’s report as “indispensable”.
A UN spokesperson on Monday said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had accepted the review’s recommendations and called on “all stakeholders to actively support UNRWA as it is a lifeline for Palestine refugees in the region”.
Source: WAFA
