Several countries have cut off their financial support to UNRWA after reports that employees were involved in the Hamas attack on 7 October.
The UN organization is now sounding the alarm about a huge crisis and that Israel is trying to confuse the organization with Hamas.
– I fear that we are on the brink of a monumental disaster with consequences for regional peace, security and human rights, writes Unrwa’s head Philippe Lazzarini.
After accusations that UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, a UN has launched an investigation into the events and several countries have frozen their aid to the organization – including Sweden.
Svenska Sida chose to freeze a payment of SEK 31 million, instead the money was redirected to other organizations.
– It is a very welcome decision against the background of the very serious information that has emerged, said Minister for Aid and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell (M).
The employees of Unrwa who have been singled out have been dismissed from Unrwa and the UN is now investigating the information.
Open letter to the UN President
Unrwa’s head Philippe Lazzarini, writes in one open letter to the president of the UN, Dennis Francis on the organization’s situation.
According to Lazzarini, the decision to cut financial support to Unrwa means that the organization’s operations from March will be severely strained.
He writes that we are facing a situation that in the short term means that we cannot work with the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. In the long term, it could damage the organization’s stabilizing role in the region.
“It will also weaken the prospects for a transition and a political solution to the long-standing conflict,” writes Lazzarini.
Lazzarini: Israel has not shown any evidence
In the letter, Lazzarini lists a number of actions he believes Israeli officials have taken to confuse UNRWA with Hamas. At the same time, he points out that Israel has not presented any evidence for the accusations that employees have participated in the attacks.
“Unrwa, like all other UN agencies, cannot operate without the support of the host state,” writes Lazzarini.
Towards the end of the letter, he writes that the organization is facing a disaster, which could have major consequences.
“I fear we are on the brink of a monumental disaster with consequences for regional peace, security and human rights.”
Unrwa: They want to change the political landscape
Furthermore, Lazzarini believes that the Israeli government’s action is not about investigating UNRWA’s neutrality – it is about changing the political landscape.
Lazzarini writes that Israel “wants to eliminate UNRWA’s role in protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees” and that the organization’s work in the Palestinian territories prevents Israel’s possibility and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s idea of incorporating them into Israel.
He is now calling on the UN General Assembly for the political support required to sustain the organization. Lazzarini wants to change the organization’s funding so that it does not become dependent on voluntary contributions that can be influenced by various political considerations.