The German government plans to resume cooperation with the United Nations agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) in Gaza. The announcement comes after a new report concluded that Israel had not provided enough evidence to back up its claims that hundreds of UNRWA staff are military operatives in so-called terrorist groups in Gaza.

Berlin

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Iran Strikes

Germany has announced plans to recommence its cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to a statement released by the country's foreign and development ministries. This decision follows a period of halted funding after Israel leveled accusations against hundreds of UNRWA staff, alleging their involvement as military operatives with terrorist groups in Gaza. These claims led several countries, including the US and Britain, to pause their financial contributions to the agency, significantly impacting its operations which include providing educational, health, and aid services to millions of Palestinians across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

A new report, which scrutinized the evidence behind Israel's allegations, found the claims to be insufficiently substantiated. The investigation, led by former French minister Catherine Colonna, reviewed UNRWA's adherence to the principle of neutrality and concluded that the agency has numerous mechanisms and procedures in place to ensure neutrality in its operations. In parallel, a separate United Nations probe is examining Israel's specific accusation involving 12 UNRWA staff members in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7th.

Following the findings of Colonna's review, Norway, a significant contributor to UNRWA, has urged other donor countries to resume their support, highlighting the risk to Gaza's population resulting from the funding cuts. Consequently, ten countries have recommenced their donations. Yet, several, including the US, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, and Lithuania, have not yet restarted their support. A UN spokesperson revealed that, as it stands, UNRWA possesses sufficient funds to maintain its operations only until June, underscoring the urgent need for renewed financial backing from the international community.



Germany to resume funding UNRWA Palestinian agency

Germany plans to resume funding of the UN Palestinian Agency, UNRWA. That's according to a statement from the country's foreign and development ministries on Wednesday. Earlier this year, Israel accused hundreds of UNRWA staff of being military operatives in so-called terrorist groups in Gaza. A number of countries, including the US and Britain, then paused payments to UNRWA. A severe blow to the agency that provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. But a new report released on Monday concluded that Israel had not provided enough evidence to back up its claims. The review was led by former French minister Catherine Colonna, looking into UNRWA's ability to ensure neutrality. Overall, the findings of the review are that UNRWA is in place of a very significant number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance with the humanitarian principle of neutrality. A separate UN probe is also investigating Israel's accusation that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas-led October 7th attacks. Norway, which is a major donor to UNRWA, on Tuesday called on donors to resume funding, arguing that the donation cuts have put the population of Gaza at risk. Ten countries have resumed their donation following the review. The US, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Lithuania have not yet done so. A UN spokesperson on Monday said UNRWA currently had only enough funding to pay for operations until June.

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