GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 31st Jan. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday said in a regular briefing in New York that donors cutting funds to UNRWA will be felt within weeks as fears grow that consequences on the ground could contradict recent International Court of Justice orders for temporary measures to prevent “genocidal acts” in Gaza.
Israel’s allegations against a dozen staff members at the UN agency for Palestine refugees allegedly involved in Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Mr. Dujarric said that “While we’re addressing these concerns very actively, the humanitarian work needs to go on,” told reporters at the Noon Briefing in New York.
“Civilians in Gaza who are suffering, need the continued support of everyone,” he said.
“The critical humanitarian work the UN does not only in Gaza, in the region, needs to be supported. People’s lives depend on it.”
Dozens of major donors have halted funds pending probes into Israel’s allegations late last week that 12 of UNRWA’s 30,000 staff members colluded with Hamas in the 7 October attacks that left 1,200 Israelis dead and 250 taken hostage.
UNRWA launched an independent review of the agency’s humanitarian operations on 17 January.
UN head Antonio Guterres met with 35 Member States and the European Union to discuss UNRWA, briefed them on the allegations and listen to their concerns, Mr. Dujarric stated.
He emphasized that every year, UNRWA shares with Israel and the Palestinian Authority its staff member lists for Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, Mr. Dujarric said “no concerns” had been raised by either.
“UNRWA does not work with Hamas,” he said. “We have operational contact with de facto authorities like in other countries.”
UN has yet to receive any reports directly from Israel about the allegations in writing, he said.
He added that a thorough investigation is under way by OIOS and the UN has fired several agency staff members implicated in the allegations.
Media reports indicated that two of the suspects are dead.
Dujarric said “Our aim is for a humanitarian ceasefire for greater volume and quality of aid going in, and for a political solution that would lead us back to the two-State solution”.
He said the UN humanitarian coordination agency, OCHA, reported that Israel issued a new evacuation order in western Gaza City, which had been home to 300,000 civilians before the crisis began, and that a trend since mid-January had seen heightened hostilities and excessive delays for aid convoys.
As for UNRWA, tasked with serving more than 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, its work will be affected, he said.
“The financial situation will be very precarious after February,” Mr. Dujarric told reporters.
He stressed that UNRWA operates primarily on donations, with its most recent records showing $1.1 billion in pledges for its programmes for Palestine refugees.
Major donors, including the US, Canada and Germany, announced they would suspend funding to UNRWA during the investigation.
According to UNRWA records from 2022, the United States is the largest donor, have contributed $ 344 million, or about one third of the agency’s annual operating budget.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke to reporters at the UN Security Council Chamber stake out on Tuesday said that Washington announced that it will withhold about $1 million now and suspend funding until the investigation is completed.
She welcomed the UN decision to conduct an investigation.
Ms. Thomas Greenfield said the US Government has reached out to Israel for further information.
“There has to be accountability for anyone who participated in the attacks on October 7, but we also know that UNRWA plays a critical role in providing lifesaving assistance to Palestinians,” she said.
“We need to see fundamental changes before we can resume providing funding,” she continued.
She added that she will raise her delegation’s concerns when meeting with the UN Secretary-General Tuesday afternoon.
“We shouldn’t let this information undermine the efforts that UNRWA is making to provide lifesaving assistance,” she said.
She noted that the UN agency has “literally saved thousands of lives”.
Meantime UN aid agencies and partners have warned there is “simply not enough food”, with some raising alarms of looming famine, disease and displacement in Gaza.
The agency’s former head of legal affairs, Johan Sufi said that without funding, UNRWA cannot discharge its task of providing assistance.
“By losing their funding, the agency is basically losing any means to operate,” said Mr. Sufi, who headed UNRWA’s legal affairs team from 2020 to 2022.
“This means immediate consequences on the salary of its staff [and] on its ability to deliver humanitarian assistance to the population.”
He warned that the more serious, immediate risk is for the population: no access to water, to food, to medical assistance, to any humanitarian relief, as UNRWA is the main provider of aid.
Mr. Sufi said that given that the ICJ has considered there is a serious risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip, one of the reasons is the worsening of conditions that could spell physical destruction of part of Gaza’s population.
He said “this decision might have direct consequences,” referred to the new funding cuts.
“We are literally talking about a life or death matter,” he concluded.
