Israeli officials admit failure of campaign to halt funding for UNRWA: Media

By Zain Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – Top officials in Israel have acknowledged the failure of an Israeli campaign against international funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Israel’s Haaretz daily reported Wednesday.

“Several countries have announced over the past few weeks that they will renew the funding to UNRWA which they froze at the start of the Gaza war in the wake of Israeli claims that the organization was cooperating with (the Palestinian group) Hamas, and that some of its employees had actively participated in the Oct. 7 attack,” said the daily.

"In recent days, the Israeli campaign against UNRWA has received a series of blows, including an announcement by Germany, one of Israel's main supporters, of its intention to resume funding for the agency which it froze last January."

Germany’s decision came after former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced Monday the results of an investigation conducted at the request of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres into Israeli allegations of the involvement of 12 UNRWA staffers in the Oct. 7 attack.

"Israel has yet to provide evidence" for its terror-link allegations against personnel of UNRWA, the Independent Investigative Group revealed Monday.

The group’s report involved extensive field visits and engagement with various stakeholders across several regions.

The group, led by Colonna, commenced its work on Feb. 13 and shed light on the investigation into UNRWA's adherence to the principle of neutrality.

Saying that UNRWA has implemented numerous mechanisms and procedures to uphold humanitarian principles, the report particularly emphasized the agency's neutrality.

Haaretz reported that “political sources in Israel have acknowledged in talks with foreign diplomats in recent days that Jerusalem had not succeeded in influencing the report in the way it had had hoped and that it is clear following the report's publication that other countries will join Germany and renew funding for the agency.”

“So far, the most important countries that have already decided to renew funding to UNRWA – most of them did so before the publication of the Colonna report – have been France, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Japan.”

Israel is mainly concerned that the US and UK, its two strongest supporters in the international arena today, will reverse their decisions to halt funding to the UN agency, according to Haaretz.

The newspaper quoted an Israeli official involved in the political efforts to halt funding for the agency as saying that “the failure was not in the field of public relations and communications but rather stemmed from the lack of a convincing alternative to UNRWA.”

According to this official, whose name the newspaper did not disclose, “Israel managed to raise doubts about UNRWA among its friends around the world but did not present suitable alternatives to the agency.”

Haaretz also quoted a diplomat from one of the European countries that resumed funding for UNRWA as saying that his government's decision was due to two reasons.

The diplomat, whose identity the newspaper did not reveal, explained that “the evidence presented by Israel (within the framework of its accusations against UNRWA) was not convincing, and it didn't sufficiently prove that this was a widespread phenomenon.”

“As the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated in recent months, it became clear that there was no immediate alternative to UNRWA. If there was one, we'd be willing to consider it,” he added.

He stressed that “there is a consensus among EU countries that support for UNRWA should continue in the current situation, despite Israel's claims.”

UNRWA has been hindered from doing its job since January, when Israel accused a handful of its thousands of employees of being involved in the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Amid a probe of the claims, several countries have cut off funding to the agency, and its aid work for Gaza’s famine-stricken population has suffered.

At least 18 countries initially suspended funding to the agency amid the allegations.

UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

The agency provides crucial support to millions of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other areas where large numbers of registered Palestinians live.​​​​​​​

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala