The United States, Great Britain, Austria, Japan and Germany are among the more than ten countries that have now stopped their support for the UN aid organization for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
The background is the Israeli report which allegedly shows how several of the aid organization’s employees support Hamas and were in various ways involved in the terrorist organization’s attack on Israel on October 7.
Supposed to have participated in kidnapping
One of the employees is said to have kidnapped an Israeli woman. Another is said to have participated in an attack on a kibbutz.
In addition, UNRWA staff are said to have distributed ammunition and coordinated transport, while another is accused of helping to bring a dead Israeli soldier to Gaza.
According to the report, seen by Reuters, Israel accuses a total of 190 of the organization’s 13,000 employees of having links to Hamas or Islamist jihad.
The accusations have not been verified and are now to be investigated by, among others, the UN.
No decision from Sweden
UN summits have in turn called on countries, including top donors such as the US and Germany, to reconsider their funding freezes for UNRWA.
– The tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be punished. The dire needs of the desperate people they are helping must be met, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday.
The UN has also promised that the accused will be held accountable. Several have also been dismissed.
The Swedish government has not yet made a decision to suspend or continue the support, which is planned to be SEK 400 million by 2024. Sweden’s Aid Minister Johan Forssell (M) has stated to SVT that they “take this very seriously and will come back”.