The United States today announced it is suspending funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) due to its staff’s alleged involvement in the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Finnish Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio also announced in a post on the social network
“We expect an independent and thorough investigation. Finland’s policy is not to pay subsidies useful to Hamas,” he said.
According to the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland has a four-year humanitarian aid agreement with UNRWA for the years 2023 to 2026. Finland pays five million euros per year for humanitarian aid.
In addition to the United States and Finland, Italy, Canada and Australia have also announced that they will temporarily suspend UNRWA funding.
Donations to UNRWA have also been made repeatedly by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The European Union said it was “extremely concerned” by the allegations and would consider further steps “based on the results of a full and exhaustive investigation”.
UNRWA said on Friday it had fired several staff members accused by Israel of involvement in a Hamas attack in October. The organization has also launched an investigation into the matter.
UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees) is a United Nations humanitarian organization tasked with providing basic services such as education, healthcare and social services to Palestinian refugees.
The United States, Germany and the European Union are UNRWA’s biggest supporters.
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2024-01-27 12:47:56
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