Sweden and Canada will resume aid to UN agency for Palestinians
Sweden and Canada have said they will resume aid to the cash-strapped UN agency for Palestinians with an initial disbursement of $20m, after receiving assurances of extra checks on its spending and personnel.
They were among countries that suspended aid to UNRWA after Israel accused about 12 of its employees of involvement in the 7 October Hamas attack that sparked the conflict in Gaza.
“The government has allocated 400m kronor to UNRWA for the year 2024. Today’s decision concerns a first payment of 200m kronor,” the Swedish government said.
It said that to unblock the aid, UNRWA had agreed to “allow controls, independent audits, to strengthen internal supervision and extra controls of personnel”.
Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s minister of international development, said: “Canada is resuming its funding to UNRWA so more can be done to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians. Canada will continue to take the allegations against some of UNRWA’s staff extremely seriously and we will remain closely engaged with UNRWA and the UN to pursue accountability and reforms.
The Canadian government was set to announce the decision on Wednesday but delayed it until Friday, for reasons that were not immediately clear.
The European Commission earlier this month said it would release €50m in UNRWA funding.
Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel resulted in about 1,200 deaths, most of them civilians.
Israel’s retaliatory operations in Hamas-controlled Gaza have killed more than 30,800 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The amount of aid brought into Gaza by truck has plummeted during five months of war.
UNRWA is at the centre of efforts to provide humanitarian relief in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned repeatedly of looming famine after nearly five months of Israeli bombardment.
UNRWA employs about 30,000 people in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria – with about 13,000 staff in the Gaza Strip.