'No plan B' to secure UNRWA funds, UN can't print money: UN spox
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The organization stated on Sunday that if its funding is not resumed, it will not be able to continue operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February.
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Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground invasion on the Gaza Strip walk through a makeshift tent camp in Rafah on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday stated that the United Nations lacks an alternative strategy to secure funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) following the suspension of contributions by donors.
"There is really no plan B," Dujarric said, adding that the UN operates on the basis of voluntary contributions and cannot print money.
The organization stated that if its funding is not resumed, it will not be able to continue operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February.
Last Saturday, Western donors decided to cut funding for the UNRWA aid organization after "Israel" raised allegations of collaboration of 12 of the organization's staffers with the resistance.
The United States and Canada were the first to lead the move, and Finland, Australia, Britain, and Italy followed suit on Saturday.
Despite the lack of evidence to support such claims, France, Japan, and Estonia likewise followed suit on Sunday.
Read more: Norway to stand by UNRWA amid false Israeli claims
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus denied all accusations in a post on X, stating: "Such false claims are harmful and can endanger our staff who are risking their lives to serve the vulnerable."
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine Francesca Albanese wrote in a post on X that the suspension of UNRWA funding came the day after the ICJ's decision concluding that "Israel" is plausibly committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Albanese stated that the countries that suspended their funding for the UN agency "collectively punishing millions of Palestinians at the most critical time, and most likely violating their obligations under the Genocide Convention."
Turkey expressed concern about the decisions made by donors to suspend funding, noting that "UNRWA meets the vital needs of millions of Palestine refugees."
Iran, on the other hand, urged Islamic nations to send aid deliveries to Gaza.
Read more: UNRWA funding suspension shows donor nations complicit in war: Hamdan
Earlier in the day, Amnesty International urged donor countries to reconsider their decision and warned that the "inhumane" decision would exacerbate the plight of two million refugees, noting that the organization serves as their sole lifeline.
"It is disgraceful that instead of heeding the ICJ’s ruling, and the court’s finding that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is at serious risk of deteriorating further, key states, including the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, and France have cut off funding to the main provider of aid for civilians in Gaza," said Agnès Callamard.
"All states have a clear duty to ensure the ICJ measures are implemented, including those ordering Israel to take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza as a key step to preventing genocide and further irreparable harm."
