Two days before the meeting of the Secretary General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Filipe Lazzarini, with the European Union's development aid ministers in Brussels, the Israeli army made new serious accusations against UNRWA, which feeds about two million Palestinians, reports Deutsche Welle (DW).
A tunnel used by Hamas for intelligence activities was allegedly found under the organization's headquarters in the Gaza Strip. This militant Islamist Palestinian organization, Hamas, has been designated as a terrorist organization by the EU, the US and other countries.
The head of UNRWA denies knowing about the tunnel or its power supply from the organization's headquarters.
Additionally, the UNRWA building has not been used since October 12, shortly after the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas.
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz is demanding the resignation of Lazarini. In January, the news about the alleged cooperation of twelve UNRWA employees with Hamas attracted a lot of attention.
Many questions for Lazarini
Filipe Lazarini will have to face a number of questions from EU ministers in Brussels this Monday (February 12th), after some European countries froze or suspended financial aid for the care of Palestinian refugees.
They want to know if UNRWA employees could have been involved in the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Filipe Lazarini, an experienced UN diplomat, has been leading the UNRWA Agency since 2020 and has had to answer awkward questions before. Namely, his predecessor, Pierre Krenbil, resigned after numerous accusations of nepotism and abuse of office.
UNRWa_01UNRWA Secretary General Filipe Lazarini / Photo: UNRWA
After twelve of UNRWA's approximately 13.000 employees in the Gaza Strip were accused of collaborating with Hamas, the United Nations immediately removed ten of them, the remaining two are no longer alive.
An internal United Nations investigation, ordered by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, is ongoing. All those responsible should be identified.
According to the UN agency, the Israeli government has not yet provided any evidence for the claim that ten percent of UNRWA employees are connected to Hamas terrorists.
Germany suspends aid, Spain increases
Filipe Lazarini is coming to Brussels to appeal to the EU and its member states to continue funding UNRWA. Nine member states, including Germany, have suspended payments to the humanitarian organization until the investigation is completed.
Other members, such as Ireland and Belgium, continue to pay. Spain even increased its contribution by 3,5 million euros, in order to provide further humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip. Portugal also wants to pay more than before.
"I think that cutting off funding to an agency like this is tantamount to collective punishment of the Palestinian people," Spanish Social Affairs Minister Pablo Bustinduy told DW. "These people are in an indescribable situation in terms of human rights, so I am very proud of what the Spanish government is doing."
Israel Palestinians Underneath UNRWAIsraeli soldiers uncover a Hamas tunnel under the UNRWA facility in Gaza / Photo: AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
The European Union is not currently allocating funds from its budget, because no expenditures were foreseen until the end of the month, announced the EU's high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borelj.
Until then, an analysis of the EU's financial flows should show whether the money went to terrorists and whether cooperation with UNRWA will continue. There is no unified position of the EU and its member states, Borelj complained. "That's not good."
Borelj: UNRWA cannot be replaced
After the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers at the beginning of February, Borelj emphasized that aid payments to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must definitely continue:
"We will certainly push for checks and balances for accountability failures, but I can say that the majority of the 27 member states feel that UNRWA cannot be replaced." I repeat, there is no substitute for UNRWA!”
UNRWADestroyed UNRWA health center in northern Gaza / Photo: UNRWA
According to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, UNRWA feeds around two million people, not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in the West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon. It also performs medical work and provides education.
"Who could replace her overnight?" asked Josep Borrell. "UNRWA plays a key role. It is true that the Israeli government is very critical of UNRWA, not only now, but also in the past. But we cannot punish two million people."
Schulce: We will have to help
Germany is the second largest donor to UNRWA with 202 million dollars in 2022. The US, which has also suspended its payments, is the largest donor with $344 million. In third place is the European Union, that is, the common fund of all member states with 114 million dollars.
Following the accusations, in addition to several EU member states, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada also suspended payments. Thus, a total of 20 countries around the world reacted to the accusations.
German Development Aid Minister Svenja Schulze assumes that UNRWA funding will continue after the entire case is investigated.
"I can't imagine that we won't continue to support given the suffering and distress that is going on in that region right now." We have to help. It is also in Israel's interest to help the people in that region," Schulze told German television n-tv at the end of January.
Work has been threatened since March
In a press release last Thursday, UNRWA announced that from the end of the month it will have difficulties in maintaining supplies to the population of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by Israeli military operations.
The aid organization, which has been responsible for Palestinian refugees for 75 years, is not funded by the regular UN budget, but depends on annual donations.
"Although UNRWA is used to dealing with financial uncertainty, the events of January present a new level of risk." "If donors do not continue to pay quickly and in large numbers, the agency could run out of resources by the end of February," the UNRWA website said.
This is exactly what Filip Lazzarini wants to prevent with his performance in Brussels.
