By Laith Al-Junaidi
AMMAN, Jordan (AA) – Jordan called Sunday for continued support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) for its “indispensable” role in the Gaza Strip.
“The UN agency plays an indispensable role in delivering humanitarian aid to more than two million Palestinians facing a humanitarian catastrophe as a result of the Israeli aggression on Gaza,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said during a phone call with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
The top diplomat underlined the need “to continue providing the necessary assistance to the UN agency to enable it to continue providing its services in Gaza,” according to a statement issued by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.
Safadi and Lazzarini warned that “any shortfall in funding for UNRWA, which constitutes the main lifeline in the Gaza Strip, will immediately affect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian services to Gaza, and will cause more suffering to its people.”
The US, UK, Italy, Australia, Canada, Finland, and the Netherlands suspended funding to UNRWA following claims by Israel on Friday that agency staffers were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
UNRWA said it terminated contracts with several employees following the Israeli allegations.
Norway welcomed the UNRWA investigation but said it would continue to support Palestinians via the UN agency. Ireland also said that it would not suspend funding to the UNRWA.
The Israeli accusations are not the first of their kind. Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel has accused UNRWA employees of working for Hamas, in what was considered a “justification” for attacking the organization’s schools and facilities in the strip, which houses tens of thousands of displaced people, according to analysts.
On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found South Africa's claim that Israel is committing genocide plausible. The court issued an interim order urging Israel to stop obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza and to improve the humanitarian situation.
Flouting the ICJ’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 65,087 others injured since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel says nearly 1,200 people have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi