Austria says will resume funding to UNRWA, but ‘a lot of trust has been squandered’

Vienna says it analyzed refugee agency’s action plan after Israeli allegations of employees’ involvement on Oct. 7; says some cash will go ‘to improve internal control mechanisms’

Palestinians sit in a vehicle loaded with sacks of humanitarian aid outside the distribution center of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 3, 2024. (AFP)
Palestinians sit in a vehicle loaded with sacks of humanitarian aid outside the distribution center of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 3, 2024. (AFP)

Austria said Saturday it will restore its funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees after suspending it over allegations that staff were involved in the devastating October 7 Hamas attack.

Israel alleged in January that some United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employees participated in the Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

In the weeks that followed, numerous donor states, including Austria, suspended or paused some $450 million in funding.

Many, including Germany, Sweden, Canada and Japan, since resumed funding, while others have continued to hold out.

“After analyzing the action plan in detail” submitted by UNRWA “to improve the functioning of the organization,” Austria has decided to “release the funds,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.

A total of 3.4 million euros ($3.7 million) in funds have been budgeted for 2024, and the first payment is expected to be made in the summer, the statement said.

File: A woman instructs children on arithmetic multiplication in a classroom at a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees, west of Gaza City, on May 7, 2024. (AFP)

“Some of the Austrian funds will be used in the future to improve internal control mechanisms at UNRWA,” it added.

Austria said it will “closely monitor” the implementation of the action plan with other international partners, noting that “a lot of trust had been squandered.”

Vienna said it has substantially increased support for the suffering Palestinian population in Gaza and the region since 7 October, making 32 million euros ($34.8 million) in humanitarian aid available to other international aid organizations.

Israel has long complained about UNRWA, founded in 1949 to care for Palestinian refugees. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the agency to be shut down, saying it is infested by terror elements and unjustly seeks to perpetrate Palestinian refugee crisis.

On Tuesday, the IDF released drone footage that is said to show Palestinian gunmen at a UNRWA logistics center in southern Gaza’s Rafah and near United Nations vehicles.

A screenshot of drone footage released by the IDF on May 14, 2024, shows Palestinian gunmen next to UN vehicles at a UNRWA logistics center in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah. (Israel Defense Forces)

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the gunmen were spotted by troops of the Givati Brigade last Saturday at UNRWA’s logistics center in eastern Rafah.

The video showed the gunmen next to UN vehicles and in the logistics compound itself, which the IDF said is used by the UN body to deliver humanitarian aid. The IDF said one clip also showed a gunman opening fire inside the complex.

In February, the IDF revealed it had uncovered a Hamas subterranean data center beneath the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City.

In addition, numerous past reports have found that UNRWA schools and teachers continue to teach hatred of Jews and glorify terrorism, including a 2022 report by the IMPACT-SE organization that UNRWA textbooks continue to contain incitement. A 2023 report by the same organization along with the UN Watch group cited dozens of examples of social media posts by UNRWA employees that “glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite antisemitism.”

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