In the context of suspicion of participation in the October 7 massacres and involvement in terrorism, European countries are reconsidering, one after the other, their funding of the aid agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. The latest state on the old continent, Sweden, announced on Friday its decision to stop funding UNRWA and instead plans to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza “through other channels”? which she has not yet specified.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel published a post on X this week: “I had a positive and productive meeting with Mr. Benjamin Dousa, Swedish Minister of Cooperation, International Development and Foreign Trade We discussed bilateral relations between our countries, the challenges Israel has faced since October 7, and the assistance Israel provides to the civilian population of Gaza. At the end of the meeting, I invited the. Minister Dousa to return in Israel for a new visit, dedicated to the development of commercial relations between our countries.”
Switzerland was the pioneering country in Europe on this issue, having immediately suspended its financial support to the agency as early as September, the official reason given being UNRWA employees' links to terrorism. The Netherlands joined last week, again the decision came against a backdrop of suspicions of anti-Semitism and participation in terrorism by UNRWA employees. However, they do not remove the budget completely but have established a significant reduction, from 19 million euros per year to just one million euros in 2029.
Following these economic sanctions, the president of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, was interviewed this week by Al Jazeera on the theme “Can UNRWA survive Israel's campaign and budget cuts?”. He denied accusations of his employees' involvement in terrorism and stressed the importance of the humanitarian aid they provide in the Gaza Strip.
Conversely, Qatar and Spain have increased their support for UNRWA and the UN General Assembly this month adopted a resolution to support the agency. 159 countries voted for the resolution, nine voted against and 11 abstained.
In addition to Israel, countries that voted against the resolution include Argentina, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga and the United States. Austria, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Czech Republic, Fiji, Georgia, Hungary, Netherlands, Moldova, South Sudan and Togo abstained.
