By Oliver Towfigh Nia
BERLIN (AA) - The German government announced on Monday that it is earmarking €45 million for the regional work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees or UNRWA.
Germany is providing €45 million for the agency's regional work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank, according to a joint statement by the Foreign Ministry and by the Development Aid Ministry.
As part of the overall payments, the Development Aid Ministry is providing €22 million –€15 million to support basic health and education services for Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon and €7 million for the "Cash for Work" program for those in Lebanon – the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Federal Foreign Office is providing €23 million for aid for Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria as well as food aid in the West Bank.
On Jan. 27, Germany announced that it was suspending funding for the agency’s humanitarian work in Gaza over allegations that a handful of its staffers were involved in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel.
Earlier in the day, the German government said that providing more urgently needed humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza was “a big political priority” for Berlin.
We are “working intensively to ensure that more humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza. It is our big political priority that more humanitarian aid comes into Gaza,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said in Berlin.
Asked about Israel’s decision to prevent the UN agency from operating in northern Gaza, Wagner replied while he could not give any assessment yet, "any news that gives the impression that the already insufficient humanitarian aid is being reduced again is of course not a good thing.”
Israel informed UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini over the weekend that they would no longer approve any agency food convoys to the north, even as a famine looms there.
“This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine,” Lazzarini warned on the social media platform X.