Germany to restart UNRWA funding as Israeli smear campaign collapses
An independent report has revealed Israel failed to provide any evidence to back allegations of UNRWA staff ties with Hamas
Berlin announced on 23 April that it will resume cooperation with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza.
Germany’s move came after an independent investigation headed by former French diplomat Catherine Colonna that found “neutrality-related issues” in implementing UNRWA’s procedures to “ensure compliance with the humanitarian principles of neutrality.”
Colonna’s report made note that Israel provided no proof of whether UNRWA staff were involved with the Palestinian resistance’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October.
“The German government has dealt intensively with the allegations made by Israel against UNRWA and has been in close contact with the Israeli government, the United Nations, and other international donors,” a joint statement by the German Foreign Office and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development read.
The former French diplomat’s investigation proposed reforms to UNRWA to increase the neutrality of staff and behavior, education, and governance, including methods to achieve these goals through engagement with donors.
Germany pushed UNRWA to implement these recommendations, strengthen its internal audit functions, and improve the external surveillance of project management.
“In support of these reforms, the German government will soon continue its cooperation with UNRWA in Gaza, as Australia, Canada, Sweden, and Japan, among others, have already done so,” the joint statement continued.
Germany gave the UN agency over $200 million in 2023 and is the organization’s second-largest donor after the US.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the attacks on the agency “have nothing to do with neutrality issues but in reality, they are motivated by the objective to strip the Palestinians from the refugee status.”
Lazzarini also added that UNRWA was in an “unprecedented crisis,” saying that UNRWA could only keep operations going until the end of June.
An unpublished report by the UN agency showed that some of the employees who were released from Israeli custody were tortured into saying they had Hamas links.
“Agency staff members have been subject to threats and coercion by the Israeli authorities while in detention and pressured to make false statements against the Agency, including that the Agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October 2023 atrocities,” the report read.
Of the nations that have suspended funding to UNRWA, 10 have decided to resume ties, while others, including the US and UK, have yet to do so.