Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced yesterday that the Government is going to contribute 3.5 million euros to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) despite Israel’s accusations about the alleged involvement of some of its workers with Hamas and the decision of twenty donors to provisionally withdraw their financial support.
“UNRWA’s situation is desperate and there is a serious risk that its humanitarian activity in Gaza will be paralyzed in a few weeks,” Albares stated before the International Development Cooperation Commission of the Congress.
During his appearance, the minister warned that the agency is an “indispensable organization” and that its work, with the current Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, “is more necessary than ever,” which is why he encouraged all parliamentary groups to support “a grand agreement to support UNRWA.”
“We are concerned about the allegations against twelve workers” for their alleged connection with the Hamas attacks of October 7, “but the UN itself has reacted quickly, terminating contracts and opening an investigation,” Albares stated. “We will follow it very closely and see its conclusions,” but, “in the meantime, the Palestinians depend on the support of this agency, which assists almost six million refugees who depend almost exclusively for food every day,” he warned. According to Albares, the amount of 3.5 million euros was advanced by him last Friday to the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.
Last week, Israel accused some UNRWA workers of collaborating with Hamas and participating in the attacks on October 7 against Israeli territory, which caused around 1,500 deaths and triggered the military offensive of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government against the Strip. of Gaza, in which around 26,000 people have already died.
Following Israel’s accusations (which have been rejected by Hamas itself), UNRWA opened an internal investigation “to establish the truth” and announced the immediate dismissal of a dozen workers from the organization (which has around 30,000 employees). “Any employee involved in acts of terrorism will be held responsible for them, including through criminal charges,” Lazzarini stated.
Nearly twenty countries have reacted by withdrawing their financial support for UNRWA, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Finland and Japan. Albares himself announced from the first moment that Spain would maintain the “same relationship” with the agency. Spain contributed 18.5 million euros directly to UNRWA in 2023, including the ten million euros that were approved in December following the Government’s decision to triple development and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories.
Last Saturday, on the sidelines of the informal Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Albares informed the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, that Spain has decided to continue maintaining its aid to UNRWA, because that organization is “indispensable for support for the Palestinian people and stability in the Middle East.”
That same day, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, declared that “the European Union has not suspended funding to UNRWA” and added that there is “a lot of misinformation” with “news that “Everyone is suspending their financing, when in reality very few countries have made it clear.” An example of this, he said, is France, which has adopted the “precautionary measure” of waiting for the internal investigation before providing the next tranche of financing.
“There has been a lot of fake news: Germany has not suspended, France has not suspended, Spain has not suspended,” said Borrell. Germany and the European Union have expressed concern, but have also not announced any type of suspension. The Government of Portugal reported on Friday an additional aid of one million euros to UNRWA.
For his part, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has called for the resumption of funding to UNRWA because “the UN is taking swift action following the extremely serious allegations” and the humanitarian needs of the populations must be “met.” desperate people that UNRWA serves.”
Albares’ announcement coincides with the start of a second tour of the Middle East to try to channel the crisis. In this case, the minister will travel to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, after his recent trip to Lebanon and Iraq and announcing his intention to visit the area more frequently.
