UNRWA chief says more funding to be unfrozen in coming weeks

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini tells Swiss broadcaster RTS he is “cautiously optimistic” more countries will resume funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees “in the coming weeks,” after Canada and Sweden ended freezes.

“I think a certain number of countries in the Gulf are going to in fact increase their contributions to the agency,” Lazzarini adds.

“Today I am having to manage an existential crisis for our agency in a region going through a seismic crisis that will certainly have consequences for decades to come,” he says. “The agency is at risk of death, at risk of being shut down.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry calls on both Canada and Sweden to “not support an organization whose ranks include hundreds of members of the Hamas terrorist organization.”

The renewed aid, according to the Israeli statement, shows that Canada and Sweden have chosen “to ignore the involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activity.”