Supporting UNRWA 'serious mistake', says Israel as Canada, Sweden resume aid

Reiterating its claim that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is involved in ’terrorist activity’, Israel on Saturday slammed Canada and Sweden for resuming aid to the agency.

The Israeli foreign minister in a statement said that supporting UNRWA is a “serious mistake.” Notably, it is one of the only agencies that has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

The Canadian and Swedish governments announced over the weekend they were resuming funding for the cash-strapped UN agency, weeks after suspending it over Israeli accusations that several UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war.

The foreign ministry called on both governments to cut funding and “not support an organisation whose ranks include hundreds of members of the Hamas terrorist organisation”.

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The renewed aid, according to the Israeli statement, showed that Canada and Sweden had chosen “to ignore the involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activity”.

On Saturday Sweden announced an initial disbursement of $20 million, after receiving assurances of extra checks on UNRWA’s spending and personnel.

Similarly, Canada said on Friday it would resume funding to UNRWA “because of the dire humanitarian situation on the ground”.

In January, about 15 countries, including the US, UK, Germany and Japan suspended funding to UNRWA following Israel’s accusations.

UNRWA employs around 30,000 people in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, with about 13,000 staff in Gaza.

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While Israel has accused about a dozen UNRWA employees of taking part in the Hamas attack, the agency has said some of its Gaza staff detained by Israeli authorities during the war recounted abuse in custody.

The European Commission earlier this month said it would release 50 million euros ($55 million) in UNRWA funding.

With inputs from AFP