Coordinated Efforts to Smear UNRWA By the US and Canada
Al-Quds Al-Arabi, January 27, 2924 translated to English by sawtoroba.com/Eng
Coordinated Efforts to Smear UNRWA By the US and Canada……
Al-Quds Al-Arabi, January 27, 2924 translated to English by sawtoroba.com/Eng/
In what appeared to be a “coordinated campaign” after the decision of the United States and Canada. Israeli Foreign Minister: We will seek UNRWA not to have any role in Gaza
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said Saturday that his country would seek to prevent the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating in the Gaza Strip after the war ended after the Jewish state accused UN agency employees of involvement in the October 7 attack.
Katz wrote on the X platform that the State Department aimed to ensure “UNRWA is not part of the post-war phase” and would seek support from the United States, the European Union, and other key donors.
Hamas on Saturday denounced Israel’s “threats” against the agency.
“We call on the United Nations and international institutions not to succumb to threats and blackmail” from Israel, the group said in a statement.
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks.”ry of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks.”ry of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks.”ry of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks.”cretary of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks.”ry of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks.”ry of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks.”ry of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said the decision by some countries to stop funding UNRWA “carries significant political and relief risks”.
“We call on the countries that have announced the cessation of their support for UNRWA to immediately reverse their decision,” he said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday that his country had decided to suspend funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Still, Taiani did not directly refer to allegations of UNRWA involvement in the October 7 attacks.
“The Italian government suspended funding for UNRWA after the brutal attack on Israel on October 7,” Taiani wrote on social media platform X, adding that some of Rome’s allies had already made the same decision, suggesting it could be a coordinated campaign.
The United States and Canada also announced the temporary suspension of new UNRWA funding following accusations that Israel was involved in the attack by Hamas on October 7.
The US State Department said in a statement published on its website that “Washington is disturbed by the allegations of the participation of 12 employees of the UN agency in the Hamas attack.”
The statement added that “the US State Department decided to temporarily suspend the new funding of the UN agency until the completion of the review of these allegations and the steps taken by the United Nations to deal with them.”
For his part, the Canadian Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussein, said in a statement, “Canada has temporarily suspended any new funding for UNRWA while conducting a thorough investigation into allegations” of the participation of its employees in the attack “Hamas,” according to the site “National Post” Canada.
Britain also announced that it would join the United States in a future “moratorium” on targeted funding for the agency in the Gaza Strip.
It said it was reviewing “troubling accusations” that UNRWA staff were involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The British Foreign Office said in a statement on Saturday: “The United Kingdom is appalled by accusations that UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the British government has repeatedly condemned.”
Commentators questioned the rush of some countries to condemn the entire UN agency for allegedly involving its employees with Hamas.
On Friday, UNRWA said it had opened an investigation into allegations that several of its staff were involved in the October attacks.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement: “The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA staff members in the horrific attacks on the Gaza envelope on the seventh of October.”
“To protect the Agency’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance, I have decided to terminate the contracts of these staff immediately and to launch an investigation to establish the truth without delay.”
Al-Quds Al-Arabi, January 27, 2924 translated to English by sawtoroba.com/Eng/
