UNITED NATIONS, September 26. /TASS/. Almost all countries and organizations contributing to the budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have resumed their funding, which was suspended following reports of UNRWA employees’ alleged involvement in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, UN Secretary General Antionio Guterres said.
"Virtually all donors have reversed their funding suspensions. 123 countries have signed up to the declaration on shared commitments to UNRWA. This underscores the consensus that UNRWA’s role across the occupied West Bank and the region is vital," he pointed out at a ministerial meeting in support of UNRWA held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
According to the UN chief, there currently is no alternative to UNRWA. "We all know that UNRWA is not a sustainable long-term solution to the plight of Palestine refugees," Guterres noted, adding: "That is why we keep pressing for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages and a long-term political solution ending the occupation and leading to two states living side by side in peace and security." "But until that moment, UNRWA remains indispensable," he concluded.
In late January, a number of countries, namely the UK, Germany and the US, announced the suspension of UNRWA funding due to suspicions over its employees' ties to the radical Palestinian movement Hamas. Several UNRWA employees who could have been involved in the Hamas attack on Israel in the fall of 2023 were fired. Later, UNRWA accused Israel of trying to capture its employees to force them to make "false confessions" about their links to Hamas.