Spain announces emergency funding to UN Palestinian refugee agency

​​​​​​​By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Spain’s foreign minister announced on Monday that Spain will send €3.5 million ($3.8 million) in emergency aid to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency.

The move comes after several nations froze funding to the UNRWA after allegations that a handful of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Jose Manuel Albares explained that the extra aid will be mobilized to support the agency’s activities “in the short term.”

Speaking in a political commission, he explained that UNRWA provides aid to 6 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Stressing that the agency works in several areas, he insisted that 1.2 million refugees in Gaza depend “almost exclusively on UNRWA aid to eat each day … that’s what is at risk.”

Albares said the UN agency is “desperate” and that there is a “serious risk” that its humanitarian efforts in Gaza will come to a halt in the coming weeks.

“The humanitarian situation in Palestine is a priority for our international cooperation,” he added.

On Monday, Spain’s Foreign Ministry announced that Albares will start a tour of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE starting Tuesday to continue promoting “solutions” to the crisis in Palestine.

Spain has been promoting an international peace conference that would culminate in the international community recognizing a viable Palestinian state.

“The defense and construction of peace is and will be the top priority of Spain’s foreign policy this legislative term,” Albares said on Monday.