The new Labour government has overturned a suspension in UK funding for relief agency UNRWA in Gaza and will provide £21 million in new support.
Funding was frozen in January after Israel claimed 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks in Israel. The allegations remain unproven; UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency) said Israel had not provided it with evidence; and an investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has yet to conclude.
In the UK House of Commons on July 19 Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had been “reassured” after an independent review by France. On the war in Gaza he added that “humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe and it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground.
“UNRWA is absolutely central to these efforts. No other agency can get aid into Gaza at the scale needed.”
The United States remains the only country not to have resumed funding.
UNRWA provides emergency food, shelter and other help for Palestinians affected by the conflict.
An Israeli government spokesperson said restoring funding was “a big mistake”, repeating Israeli claims that UNRWA supports Hamas but the Board of Deputies of British Jews did not criticise the return of the funding.
Earlier in the week, Labour Friends of Israel briefed MPs on the need to unfreeze funds and a group of Labour backbenchers was preparing to call on ministers to do so.
Lammy said he took the action partly because of blocks Israel has placed on aid entering Gaza.
“Israel promised a flood of aid back in April,” he said, “but imposes impossible and unacceptable restrictions.”
The International Court of Justice unanimously ordered Israel on March 28 to allow full access to basic food and medical supplies in Gaza to head off famine.
Four days after the ruling, the Israeli military attacked an international private aid convoy in Gaza killing seven workers.
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