UNGA chief demands 'sustainable support' for UNRWA amid funding cuts

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Feb 2024 21:19

Dennis Francis has issued a plea for member states to provide consistent financial and political backing to UNRWA.

Dennis Francis, the president of the UN General Assembly, addresses a plenary meeting of the General Assembly in 2023 (UN)

Dennis Francis, the UN General Assembly president, has urged member states to offer “sustainable and predictable financial and political support” to UNRWA, the UN agency aiding Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

In response to a letter from UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, Francis emphasized the agency's crucial role as a lifeline for millions of Palestinians. UNRWA, responsible for providing essential services like healthcare and education, faces challenges in tackling the “biggest humanitarian crisis since its establishment."

Last month, "Israel" accused UNRWA staff of having ties to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Despite lacking public evidence to support these claims, more than 10 donor countries, including the United States, Germany, the European Union, Canada, and Japan, suspended financial support. This significant loss of funding, which constitutes the majority of UNRWA's budget, is placing the agency at risk of running out of funds completely within weeks.

Another Israeli claim that aims to exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians in #Gaza that just so happens to have taken place right after the #ICJ ruling. pic.twitter.com/LpaqOdWEgQ
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 28, 2024

In a related development, a new report by the US intelligence revealed, on Thursday, that the latter evaluated the Israeli claims about the alleged involvement of staff members at the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) on October 7 and gave it a “low confidence” assessment, The Wall Street Journal stated, citing officials familiar with the latter.

The National Intelligence Council (NIC), a group of veteran intelligence analysts, worked on the four-page report, which was circulated within the US government last week, the sources revealed.

The Intelligence Council develops and sustains intelligence and information-exchanging relationships with international, military, domestic, and private sector partners to boost intelligence-related communications. Its authority to conduct such activities is governed by many laws and regulations mainly the "Executive Order 12333, United States Intelligence Activities," which was amended in 2008.

The order specifies strategic goals and defines roles and responsibilities within the IC, while also "affirming the Nation’s commitment to protect Americans’ civil liberties and privacy rights in the conduct of intelligence activities."

The US intelligence report's “low confidence” assessment emphasizes that the intelligence officials find "Israel’s" claims that a dozen UNRWA employees took part in the attacks "plausible", yet no stronger confirmation can be made for the lack of independent evidence to back them.

UNRWA chief says agency reached 'breaking point' amid funding crisis

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA warned, last Thursday, it has reached a critical juncture as it struggles to cope with the ongoing war in Gaza.

"It is with profound regret that I must now inform you that UNRWA has reached a breaking point," Chief Philippe Lazzarini expressed.

"The Agency's ability to fulfill the mandate given through General Assembly resolution 302 is now seriously threatened," he wrote in a letter to the Assembly in reference to the resolution under which the agency was founded in 1949.

In the same context, Lazzarini has lately emphasized that $438 million has been frozen -- the equivalent of more than half of expected funding for 2024, pointing out that "Israel" was waging a concerted effort to destroy UNRWA.

The UN arbitrarily fired the accused employees and has begun an internal probe of UNRWA, despite Lazzarini asserting Thursday that "Israel" has provided no evidence against the 12 former employees it accuses, but 16 countries have suspended funding anyway.

"I have cautioned donors and host countries that without new funding, UNRWA operations across the region will be severely compromised from March," he indicated.

He added, "I fear we are on the edge of a monumental disaster with grave implications for regional peace, security and human rights."