Japan to resume UNRWA funding with $35 million in aid: Japanese FM
2 Min Read
Japan's Foreign Minister says that it is Japan's duty as a member of the United Nations Security Council to respond to the situation in Gaza.
-
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa speaks to attendees as she attends a Women, Peace and Security symposium at the Permanent Mission of Japan, on Monday, March 18, 2024, in New York. (AP)
Following the series of suspensions of funds for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in which Japan took part, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announced that the country is lifting its suspension and giving UNRWA about $35 million in aid as originally planned, Japanese Kyodo news agency reported today.
Kyodo news agency quoted the minister as saying "The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory of Gaza continues to worsen … It is our country's responsibility to respond to the crisis as a member of the U.N. Security Council."
Earlier last month, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Finland, and France also announced that they will lift their suspension and resume to fund UNRWA.
Read more: Documents reveal Israeli harassment of UNRWA workers: The Guardian
'Israel' proposes plan to UN for dismantling UNRWA
According to UN sources, "Israel" has proposed to the UN that its aid agency in the Palestinian territories, UNRWA, be dismantled and its staff transferred to a successor organization responsible for large-scale food delivery into Gaza.
Herzi Halevi, the Israeli chief of general staff, offered the plan two weeks ago to UN officials in "Israel" who passed it to the organization's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on March 30, according to Israeli media who cited people familiar with the conversations.
UNRWA did not take part in the negotiations since Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have refused any contact with the organization amid false Israeli accusations that it colluded with Palestinian Resistance factions.
Following weeks of a nonstop Israeli targeted campaign against the UN agency, UNRWA said in an unpublished report that some of its staffers were coerced into falsely stating that they had ties with the Palestinian Resistance movement - Hamas- - and that they took part in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 last year, Reuters reported.
The occupation entity alleged in January that 12 of the 12,000 UNRWA members in Gaza participated in the October operation.
