UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to major donors to resume funding for the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees during a closed-door meeting with representatives from 35 countries on Tuesday.
Publish dateThursday 1 February 2024 - 14:34
Story Code : 285206
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: Guterres briefed ambassadors on the measures taken in response to accusations that 12 staff members at the agency participated in the October 7 operation against the Israeli regime.
Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, stated after the meeting that Guterres urged countries to "reconsider" their decision and commended nations like Norway and Spain for not suspending aid.
Concerns are mounting as a growing number of countries and organizations fear that abrupt funding cuts from some of UNRWA’s largest donors will have severe humanitarian implications on the ground in Gaza.
In a separate development, Martin Griffiths, the UN’s undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, warned that the defunding of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency "would result in the collapse" of the aid system in the Gaza Strip.
The withdrawal of funds from UNRWA, announced by several mostly Western countries, was deemed "perilous" by Griffiths, who emphasized its "far-reaching consequences" in the occupied Palestinian territories and the region.
Addressing the suspension of funds to UNRWA, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese highlighted the "double standards" exhibited by governments that continue to support Israel while suspending aid to the refugee agency.
About a dozen mostly Western countries have suspended funding to UNRWA pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that 12 former staff members participated in the October 7 operation.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, stated that the US had "reached out to... Israel to seek more information" about the allegations against the 12 UNRWA staff members. While emphasizing the need for a thorough investigation by the UN, Thomas-Greenfield noted that the US would not restore funding until UNRWA made "fundamental changes."
Questions have arisen regarding the information provided by Israel about the alleged involvement of UNRWA employees in the October 7 operation.
An Israeli official initially mentioned intelligence obtained through interrogations of those arrested during the attack, but The New York Times later reported that the information had been obtained through surveillance.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have detained an unknown number of individuals in Gaza, including UN workers, since October 7, with released Palestinians reporting mistreatment during Israeli interrogations./Tasnim News
Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, stated after the meeting that Guterres urged countries to "reconsider" their decision and commended nations like Norway and Spain for not suspending aid.
Concerns are mounting as a growing number of countries and organizations fear that abrupt funding cuts from some of UNRWA’s largest donors will have severe humanitarian implications on the ground in Gaza.
In a separate development, Martin Griffiths, the UN’s undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, warned that the defunding of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency "would result in the collapse" of the aid system in the Gaza Strip.
The withdrawal of funds from UNRWA, announced by several mostly Western countries, was deemed "perilous" by Griffiths, who emphasized its "far-reaching consequences" in the occupied Palestinian territories and the region.
Addressing the suspension of funds to UNRWA, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese highlighted the "double standards" exhibited by governments that continue to support Israel while suspending aid to the refugee agency.
About a dozen mostly Western countries have suspended funding to UNRWA pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that 12 former staff members participated in the October 7 operation.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, stated that the US had "reached out to... Israel to seek more information" about the allegations against the 12 UNRWA staff members. While emphasizing the need for a thorough investigation by the UN, Thomas-Greenfield noted that the US would not restore funding until UNRWA made "fundamental changes."
Questions have arisen regarding the information provided by Israel about the alleged involvement of UNRWA employees in the October 7 operation.
An Israeli official initially mentioned intelligence obtained through interrogations of those arrested during the attack, but The New York Times later reported that the information had been obtained through surveillance.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have detained an unknown number of individuals in Gaza, including UN workers, since October 7, with released Palestinians reporting mistreatment during Israeli interrogations./Tasnim News
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