Suspending funding for UN agency for Palestinian refugees ‘historic mistake’: Lebanon

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) – Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib on Monday termed the suspension of funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) as a “historic mistake.”

Bou Habib held talks in the capital Beirut with US Ambassador Lisa Johnson.

“Suspending aid for UNRWA is a historic mistake that will deprive Palestinian refugees of any hope for a better life and future, and will constitute a threat to regional security and the security of host countries and donor countries alike,” he said during the meeting as cited by a Foreign Ministry statement.

At least 12 countries – Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Finland, Australia, the UK, Netherlands, the US, France, Austria and Japan – have suspended funds for UNRWA, which was established in 1949 to cater to Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

The move came amid Israeli claims that some of the agency’s employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

UNRWA said it terminated contracts with several employees following the Israeli allegations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged donor states to reconsider their decision to suspend funding for the refugee agency.

The Israeli accusations came as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday 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 26,637 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 65,387 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 Ahmed Asmar