Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced yesterday to the commissioner general of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, that Spain will make a new contribution of twenty million euros for the work of this organization in food, educational and health matters, an amount that will join the 3.5 million approved by the last Council of Ministers and that, he assured, will be in the agency’s bank account “in the coming days.”
In the current context of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, “the work of UNRWA is even more irreplaceable,” the minister warned during the press conference after his meeting with Lazzarini, which took place at the ministerial headquarters of the Palace. of Viana in Madrid. “UNRWA assists almost six million Palestinian refugees from Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria” and, in the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza, its work is, “to a large extent, a matter literally of life and death for the most of two million people who live there,” he warned. “We cannot allow UNRWA to stop providing aid,” he added.
For this reason, Albares continued, “the Council of Ministers last Tuesday approved a first contribution from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) of 3.5 million euros for UNRWA” (the references of the last Council of Ministers mention a total of 10.2 million euros in voluntary contributions to international organizations, programs and funds, without specifying their recipients). “Today the last papers have been signed and I have conveyed to Lazzarini that they will be in the UNRWA bank account in the coming days,” he added.
Likewise, Albares took advantage of the meeting with the commissioner general and the joint press conference itself to announce, “from the AECID, a new contribution of 20 million euros to UNRWA to support the organization in its crucial humanitarian work in Gaza and address the food, educational and health needs of almost six million Palestinian refugees in the region.”
“The procedures have already begun,” said the minister, who specified that, in a period of “between four and six weeks, all the necessary processing will be done and, from there, it will be a matter of days before the 20 million will be found.” These twenty million will be “unconditional” and the delivery “will not be in several payments, but will be in a single payment,” he added.
On the other hand, Albares reiterated that Spain opposes the EU stopping providing aid to UNRWA and, therefore, the Government “welcomes” the approval, by the Commission, of “a first payment of 50 million of euros”.
Lazzarini
For his part, Lazzarini highlighted that the new contribution of 20 million euros represents “a clear message of the solidarity of a European State and a clear message to other countries so that they are aware of the indispensable work carried out by UNRWA and contribute again. to the agency.” “Spain is leading by example,” he said.
According to Lazzarini, Gaza is experiencing a “superlative tragedy.” “In a conflict, so many children, teachers, health workers and journalists have never been murdered in such a short period,” he denounced, and to this is added “the hunger generated by human beings, which could be totally avoided with political will.” Furthermore, he lamented, “the UN is being overlooked in this conflict: more than 150 United Nations centers that should house people fleeing the bombings have been completely destroyed; I hope that in the future a commission of investigation will be created to clarify responsibilities.”
Regarding the accusations against several UNRWA employees of having participated in the Hamas attacks of October 7, Lazzarini recalled that the agency acted “immediately” and decided, “from the first minute,” to terminate “the contract of these people, even though there had not yet been a purification process.” According to the commissioner general, the case is in the hands of an independent investigative commission led by personnel from New York that will report its conclusions directly to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
On the other hand, Philippe Lazzarini regretted the decision of “16 countries” to “freeze contributions to UNRWA”, which has resulted in a loss of “450 million euros”, a “tremendous impact for the organization, because it undermines our ability to operate in Gaza and other areas.” However, he admitted, “I am optimistic and I believe that countries will regain confidence to resume contributions to the agency.” “The decision of the European Commission to contribute 50 million, up to 82 million annually, will help us get to April, but I don’t see any further, and I hope that the countries of the Gulf region will help us in this phase to go through.” from one month to the next,” he added.
According to Lazzarini, the strong criticism against UNRWA is “politically motivated.” “There is an attempt to dismantle the agency, we have heard the Israeli Government say that UNRWA will no longer play any role in Gaza in the future,” he assured. “The real reason is to pressure Palestinian refugees to no longer have refugee status and to not address the issue of return,” which would have “an impact on the future self-determination” of Palestine, he denounced.
