Lenarcic on Israel: Empty accusations against UNRWA
EU humanitarian chief Janez Lenarcic claims Israel has provided no evidence to support its allegations against UNRWA, according to The New Arab on March 14th.
After the October 7th Hamas attack, Israel accused the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of being involved with the militant group, and thus of having contributed to the killing of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 250 – at precisely the same time that the ICJ court in the Netherlands found Israel guilty of genocide.
This led to an immediate discontinuation of the funding provided by numerous countries to support the agency, with the US leading the way.
The decision to stop supporting the organisation, promptly raised concerns as it “overly defies” the International Court of Justice’s order to provide effective assistance in Gaza and across the region, as stated by UN’s Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
READ: UNRWA says no more cash for Gaza civilians after February
On January 29th, Jordan King Abdullah II also emphasised the importance of resuming aid for UNRWA as it supports more than 2 million Palestinians in the region.
However, on January 30th, the US claimed that funding would be restored upon seeing “fundamental changes”: “We need to look at the organization, how it operates in Gaza, how they manage their staff and to ensure that people who commit criminal acts, such as these 12 individuals, are held accountable immediately so that UNRWA can continue the essential work that it’s doing” stated the US Ambassador to the UN.
READ: UNRWA funding in Gaza to be resumed soon, claims Norway
Regarding the allegations, EU’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Lenarcic stated that Israel has never presented evidence to support them, and claimed that “even if those allegations, at the end of the day, prove to be true, that doesn’t mean that UNRWA is the perpetrator”.
He continued by saying that the agency has promptly acted: “There is an investigation. There is a review. We are satisfied so far with all this”.
The New Arab and agencies
