'Disheartened by move', says UNRWA Commissioner-General after Swiss Parliament cuts funding to group

Amid growing concerns over United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) actions in the Gaza Strip, the lower house of the Swiss legislature has decided to cut funding to the UN agency. After the development, Philippe Lazzarini commissioner-general of UNRWA, expressed his disappointment over the decision and hoped that the House will revise its decision as UNRWA is the first responder in Gaza and a lifeline for millions. Taking to X, Lazzarini wote, “Disheartened by Switzerland Parliament’s national council move to cut aid to @UNRWA, as the Agency is recognized as a major humanitarian actor in #Gaza & the region.” “Hope the Senate will revise this decision as @UNRWA is the first responder in Gaza and a lifeline for millions,” he added.

“As a country that leads on International Humanitarian Law, I am disappointed in this decision to cut aid to the largest and most active Humanitarian Agency on the ground in #Gaza today. Cutting funds jeopardizes services during an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe,” Lazzarini wrote in another tweet.

Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in early October, UNRWA has come under fire for employing people who celebrated the 7 October atrocities and deleting social-media posts that accused Palestinian terror groups of hoarding humanitarian aid. In mid October, the UN body deleted a post on X that accused Hamas of stealing humanitarian supplies. “@UNRWA received reports that yesterday a group of people with trucks purporting to be from the Ministry of Health of the de facto authorities in #Gaza, removed fuel and medical equipment from the Agency’s compound in #GazaCity,” the agency wrote without explicitly naming Hamas. “@UNRWA fuel & other types of material are kept for strictly humanitarian purposes – any other use is strongly condemned." it added. However, hours after publishing the note, UNWRA quietly deleted the message. Sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli publication, that the story is accurate. Israeli officials were quick to flag that one of Gaza’s most influential humanitarian groups had sought to cover up Hamas’s pilfering aid intended for Gazan civilians. “Hamas stole fuel and medical equipment from UNRWA in Gaza. The amount of fuel stolen is enough to power Gaza’s water desalination facilities for six days,” IDF wrote following the revelation. A similar note was released by Israel’s Foreign Ministry: “Wait @UNRWA – Did Hamas also break into your Twitter account? Or are you just scared of disappointing your terrorist friends?” Following the embarrassing admission, UNRWA issued an “URGENT CLARIFICATION” on X, seeking to contextualize the now-deleted post. “With regards to reports on social media of looting of an UNRWA warehouse. UNRWA would like to confirm that no looting has taken place in any of its warehouses in the Gaza Strip,” the group wrote later Monday. “The images circulating on social media were of a movement of basic medical supplies from the UNRWA warehouse to health partners.” In early November, a research report by UN Watch found that nearly two dozen UNRWA staffers had celebrated Hamas’s slaughter of Israeli civilians. “Allah is Great, Allah is Great, reality surpasses our wildest dreams,” wrote Osama Ahmed, a UNRWA teacher in Gaza, in a characteristic Facebook post captured by the watchdog organization in its report “UNRWA: Hate Starts Here.” The publication also documents numerous senior-ranking members of the organization gloating about the October 7 atrocities. With inputs from agencies