UNRWA funding crisis eases as donors come back after report

Philippe Lazzarini says funding had been secured until the end of June

Donors have resumed funding in recent weeks as Israel has refused to provide any evidence to support its allegations that UNRWA employees took part in the October 7 attacks. AP

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The head of the UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees' funding crisis, caused by Israeli allegations that some staff were involved in the October 7 attacks, has slightly abated.

Donors have resumed funding in recent weeks as Israel has refused to provide any evidence to support its allegations, including to UN independent investigators who published a report on Monday.

“In January, within 48 hours, we had 16 to 18 countries who indicated the temporary freeze or suspension,” Mr Lazzarini said.

“Since then, a number of countries have come back, and many have also come back after the release of the intermediary report.”

He said funding had been secured until the end of June.

“I’m slightly more, I wouldn’t say relaxed, but more confident than I was two months ago when I had funding just for the next two three weeks,” he said.

Mr Lazzarini welcomed the recommendations made in Monday's report and confirmed the UNRWA’s commitment to carrying them out.

Several donors including Japan, Australia, Canada, Finland and German have resumed funding but the US has not.

The US, which has long been UNRWA’s leading donor and last year pledged more than $400 million to the agency, wants to see “real progress” before restoring funding, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.

The Arab Group of countries at the UN stressed that the UNRWA is a “lifeline for the refugees and the pillar of humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip at a time of grave crisis and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe”.

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