France to provide at least €30 million to UNRWA in 2024

By Nur Asena Erturk

France will provide at least €30 million ($32.3 million) to the UN agency for refugees in Palestine, or the UNRWA, in 2024, the French Foreign Ministry said.

Early this year in January, a group of countries, including the US and the UK, decided to halt the funding to the UN agency over Israeli allegations that some of its members were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Some of them, such as Australia, Canada, Sweden, and Iceland have since resumed the funding.

“In 2024, France will contribute to UNRWA’s actions with more than €30 million,” French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told a news conference on Thursday.

“We will make our contributions while ensuring that conditions are met for UNRWA to lead its mission in a spirit devoid of incitement to hatred and violence,” he added.

Lemoine did not express a timeline for the payment.

More than 32,500 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,900 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli army has also imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving most of the population, particularly residents of the north, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.