The EU is one of the main donors to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA). Following Israeli accusations that some of its personnel were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack, the EU announced it would review its support. While some see it as an urgent measure, others warn of collective punishment for the Palestinian people, the media platform European Newsroom reports in an insightful article cited by Agerpres.

On Monday, the EU announced it was reviewing UNRWA funding and that payments would be suspended until the end of February. The EU called for an “urgent audit” following allegations by Israeli authorities that some UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.

The audit should be carried out by experts appointed by the Commission and run in parallel with a UN investigation into the allegations, it said. The Commission also said in a statement that humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “will continue without interruption through partner organizations.”

UNRWA warns of a humanitarian catastrophe

The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an Israeli dossier, that ten percent of UNRWA’s Palestinian staff “have close ties” to terrorist organizations operating in Gaza. The New York Times previously reported, citing the dossier, that one UNRWA employee was involved in the kidnapping of a woman in Israel, another distributed ammunition, and a third participated in the massacre at a kibbutz in which 97 people died. The file contains allegations against a total of 12 UNRWA staff members. Washington considers them reliable.

In response, UNRWA fired several staff over Israel’s accusations, prompting many countries, including the United States, France, Britain, Germany and Japan, to announce the suspension of future funding to the UN agency. The UN agency’s commissioner-general, Philip Lazzarini, called the decisions “shocking,” stressing that more than two million people in Gaza “simply depend on UNRWA.” He called on the countries to “reconsider their decisions”. UNRWA said it would have to cease operations within a month if funding was not restored.

UN Emergency Coordinator Martin Griffiths called UNRWA the “hub” of humanitarian aid for people in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA’s life-saving work in wartime “must not be compromised by allegations of the alleged actions of a few,” Griffiths told a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Wednesday. Griffiths expressed concern at the allegations and said every effort would therefore be made to meet the world’s demands for a politically neutral organization.

Guterres calls on countries to continue providing support

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres promised an urgent independent review of UNRWA, but also called on donor countries to “guarantee the continuity” of the agency’s activities for the benefit of the “frustrated populations” it serves.

Slovenia has joined Guterres’ call for countries to continue funding UNRWA, the Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday in a statement to the STA news agency. Freezing funds would endanger UNRWA and the lives of Palestinians in the Middle East. So, last year, Slovenia allocated 1.2 million euros to the agency, which is the largest amount so far. The decision on the country’s contribution for this year has not yet been made.

Borrell: “There is no alternative to UNRWA”

On February 1, on the sidelines of the European summit, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, warned that hundreds of thousands of people would die if funding was cut. “If you cut funding to UNRWA, you will punish the entire Palestinian people. There is no alternative to UNRWA (…) if you want to keep these people alive. Therefore, no collective punishment for the Palestinian people,” he emphasized.

Spain will not give up its support

Spain, which has always been firm on the proposal to recognize a Palestinian state, will support it, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez assured on Monday. However, she will closely monitor the investigation. Albarez stressed that only a dozen of the agency’s roughly 30,000 employees are being checked, of which 13,000 work in Gaza and do “essential” work to support the Strip’s population.

This prompted Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli to say that UNRWA “is Hamas” and that Israel was “very disappointed” that Spain had not stopped funding the agency.

Belgium continues to support “high humanitarian needs”

On Wednesday, after the United Nations notified donors of its investigation, Belgium announced it would continue funding for the time being “given the high humanitarian needs and the threat of famine in Gaza,” said Development Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennes (of the Netherlands social services). Vooruit Democratic Party). UN intelligence indicates that Israeli security forces have not yet shared evidence with them or other donors.

Belgium will await the results of an investigation into possible links between UNRWA staff and the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas. “If the allegations are confirmed, very strict measures must be taken. It is completely unacceptable for staff to be complicit in or glorifying the barbaric terrorist attacks of October 7,” Gennes said.

Austria, Croatia, Germany, Romania and Sweden will suspend payments

Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that it had suspended voluntary payments to UNRWA. “Until the completion of the investigation, the ministry will not make new voluntary contributions to UNRWA,” he said.

Croatia has no plans to donate to UNRWA in 2024. In the past, she made donations “only in exceptional cases, on call,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Croatian news agency Hina. Since the start of the war, Croatia has donated a total of 1.25 million euros in emergency humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Gaza. According to the ministry, UNRWA has received €250,000 in emergency humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Gaza.

Sweden, traditionally a strong UNRWA ally, has decided to suspend funding while the Swedish development agency SIDA investigates the situation. “I share the opinion that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is terrible. Sweden wants to help the civilian population, but we have to make sure that this support is not used for the wrong things,” conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a press conference. Sweden’s Social Democrats criticized the decision to end aid. “This could destroy the most important Palestinian humanitarian organization in a situation where millions of civilians have been affected by war and are at risk of starvation,” Morgan Johansson, a former justice minister, wrote on X.

On Monday, the Austrian Foreign Ministry said that “the allegations (…) are deeply shocking and extremely disturbing.” All contributions to UNRWA have been suspended “until all these allegations are fully clarified.” Austria’s contribution to UNRWA is divided into an annual contribution of approximately €400,000 and project-related contributions of €3 million per year in the health sector. However, as stated in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Austria continues to help the affected civilian population of the Gaza Strip through other channels. As of October 7, humanitarian aid in the total amount of 13 million euros has been provided for this purpose.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock, who temporarily suspended aid, called for a quick investigation. “The situation in Gaza is simply hellish,” the environmental politician said Wednesday in Berlin. UNRWA is almost the only supplier of goods in Gaza because all other humanitarian organizations there “can hardly be active at the moment”, she said. Last year, Germany financed UNRWA for a total amount of 206.5 million euros. According to the German Foreign Ministry, Germany is not authorizing new payments during the investigation. In any case, there are currently no new commitments pending.

The EPP calls for a debate on UNRWA at the EP plenary in Strasbourg

The European People’s Party (EPP) is calling for a debate on the possible involvement of UNRWA in Hamas attacks at next week’s EP plenary in Strasbourg, Swedish MEP David Lega, a member of the foreign affairs and human rights committees, announced on X. “No, it can be business as usual – we must stop financing terrorism once and for all,” he wrote.

The Times of Israel reported that Israel’s Mossad secret service briefed military cabinet ministers on Monday about the broad outlines of a possible deal. They provide for the release of 35 sick, wounded and elderly hostages in the first stage, during which hostilities will cease for 35 days. This will be followed by another week-long ceasefire, during which the negotiators will also try to free young people and hostages whom Hamas believes are soldiers.

A central issue still unresolved is Hamas’ demand that the deal include a permanent ceasefire, which Israel rejects. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that Israel will uphold its goals of destroying Hamas and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. A deal to release the hostages could be reached soon, but Israel reiterated that “not at any cost,” Netanyahu said late Wednesday.