Norway urges world to stand by UN agency as donors suspend funding for Palestinians

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – The Norwegian foreign minister urged the world to stand by the UN Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA) after the United Nations warned the Security Council last week of “imminent famine” in the Gaza Strip, local media reported Tuesday.

Following the Israeli accusation that some of the UN agency members were involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, at least 17 countries, including the US, UK, Australia, and many EU countries, have halted payments to UNRWA, pending an investigation.

However, “now is exactly the wrong time to halt funding for UNRWA,” said Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, adding that Norway is firmly standing by the Palestinian people and its commitment to continue funding “this crucial agency.”

The minister urged fellow donor countries to reflect on the wider consequences of cutting UNRWA aid off.

“If these decisions are not reversed, we run a serious risk of worsening the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” he said, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

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.

Hence a stop to payments could further destabilize “an already extremely volatile region,” Eide warned, adding: “The world should keep funding UNRWA on more than practical grounds.”

“We should not collectively punish millions of people for the alleged deeds of a few,” the foreign minister added.

Eide welcomed the UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini’s decision to terminate the contracts of the accused individuals and start an investigation into alleged participation in the attack on Israel.

However, suspending the funding to a key UN agency over the alleged conduct of 12 employees is not the answer, according to him.

- Israel ‘destroying’ UN aid agency

Lazzarini accused Tel Aviv of having a “long-term political goal” of “destroying” the UN aid agency together with the idea that Palestinians are refugees who have a right to return home one day, the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported.

“At the moment, we are dealing with an expanded, concentrated Israeli campaign, which is aimed at destroying UNRWA,” Lazzarini said in the interview published last month.

Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children while tens of thousands are injured, missing, or uncounted for, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The United Nations warned the Security Council last week of “imminent famine in the Gaza Strip”, urging immediate action to prevent a humanitarian disaster in a territory where many council members warned that Israel is using “hunger as a weapon of war.”

- Gazans ‘one step away from famine’

At least 576,000 people in Gaza – one-quarter of the population – are “one step away from famine,” said Ramesh Rajasingham, the director of coordination at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, according to a UN press release.

The food-security experts warn of “complete agricultural collapse in northern Gaza by May” if conditions persist, said the UN.

“Unfortunately, as grim as the picture we see today is, there is every possibility for further deterioration,” Rajasingham reported.

In 2022, UNRWA signed a multi-year agreement with Norway for a total of NOK 1.1 billion ($124.5 million) over four years.

The Nordic country, a top donor to the UN agency, transferred $26 million in aid to UNRWA last month after the countries decided to stop their support pledging to give more if needed, according to the Foreign Ministry.

For the past 30 years, Norway has chaired an international donor group for Palestine focusing on supporting the establishment of Palestinian institutions, which according to the foreign minister is “key” for establishing a Palestinian state.