The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has accused the Israeli army of a naval strike on a food aid convoy preparing to enter northern Gaza, where it is at war with Hamas, Monday February 5. ” Fortunately, no one got hurt “added on X Thomas White, the head of the agency within the Palestinian territory. The Israeli army completely controls the maritime space bordering the Gaza Strip in the Mediterranean.
Since the Jewish state accused employees of the UN agency – since dismissed – of being involved in the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, relations between Israel and UNRWA have been very deteriorated. A dozen countries, including major donors such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden, announced they were suspending their funding to the agency, which said it was threatened with having to cease its activities “by the end of February”.
The European Union has called for an audit of the functioning of UNRWA, specifying that it would decide on the suspension of its funding based on the results of the investigation opened by the United Nations (UN). Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, said “confident that it will be completed by the launch of an independent external investigation before the next payment from the European Commission is due at the end of the month”. Currently, the suspended funds amount to “more than $440 million, or nearly half of the agency’s expected revenues in 2024, thus endangering its very existence”underlined Mr. Borrell.
On the Israeli side, the accusation is strong. “UNRWA is totally infiltrated by Hamas”And “we need other UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations” in his place, declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem in front of ambassadors on Wednesday January 31.