Israel slams EU decision to restore funding to UN agency for Palestinian refugees

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced a decision by the EU to restore funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

"The European Commission's decision to allocate 50 million Euros ($54.2 million) to UNRWA before the UN commissions of inquiry have completed their work and submitted their conclusions and recommendations is an unfortunate decision," said Lior Haiat, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, in a statement.

He stressed that in the upcoming weeks, Israel "will present all the information in its possession to the sponsoring countries and to the UN commissions of inquiry."

“Israel is committed to transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza and working with other UN agencies and additional actors to ensure the distribution of aid to the Strip,” the statement also said, without mentioning UNRWA.

On Friday, the European Commission decided to give UNRWA €50 million.

The European “Commission will proceed to disburse a first tranche of EUR 50 million out of the EUR 82 million foreseen for UNRWA for 2024,” it said in a press release.

Several countries have suspended UNRWA funding after Tel Aviv alleged that some of the agency's employees were involved in the cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

UNRWA said it terminated contracts with several employees following the Israeli allegations.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, 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. 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.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara