Saudi Arabia announces $40 million donation to UNRWA as Blinken visits
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia announces it will donate $40 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which has faced funding cuts and calls for its abolition spearheaded by Israel.
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre says the funds will support UNRWA’s “humanitarian relief efforts in the Gaza Strip,” where the Israel-Hamas war has raged for more than five months, by providing “food for more than 250,000 people and tents for 20,000 families.”
The Saudi announcement comes shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the kingdom for talks on Gaza. The US was among countries that froze donations to UNRWA over allegations some of its employees took part in the October 7 onslaught that triggered the war and have links to Palestinian terror groups in Gaza.