UNRWA: ‘Funding suspension will leave 2 million Palestinians without aid’

By Devin Watkins

“Without donors reversing the decision of their suspension, it will mean that by the end of February, we will not be able to provide life-saving assistance to over 2 million people.”

Marta Lorenzo, Director of the UNRWA Representative Office for Europe, offered that assessment of the situation facing Palestinians across the Middle East after several donor nations suspended funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Investigation into allegations against UNRWA staff

On January 26, UNRWA unveiled allegations made by Israel that several of the agency’s staff members were involved in Hamas’ attack on the country on October 7, 2023, which set off the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s Commissioner General, immediately terminated the contracts of the accused staff members and called for an investigation into the allegations.

At least sixteen countries paused funding for UNRWA, including the United States and Germany, which between them contribute $546 million of the agency’s annual budget of $1.16 billion.

The UN Office for Internal Oversight in New York, a UN body independent from UNRWA, is carrying out the investigation, according to Ms. Lorenzo.

“As a UN humanitarian organization, we keep on highlighting that we have zero tolerance for any such alleged incidents,” she said in an interview with Vatican News.

‘Backbone of humanitarian response in Gaza’

The funding suspension will soon debilitate UNRWA’s humanitarian aid and educational support for some 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza.

Ms. Lorenzo estimated that funding will run out by the end of February.

“We are talking about more than one million people who are sheltering in our installations,” she said. “We are the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza.”

“Then if we go further, it means that knowing that more than half of them are children and that the conflict is intensifying, we see lots of people who are hungry living in appalling conditions. This is a huge impact,” added Ms. Lorenzo.

Maintaining stability across Middle East

UNRWA also provides “life-saving services and support to millions of Palestinians in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, including food assistance, shelter, education, water, sanitation, and hygiene,” according to the agency’s website.

Ms. Lorenzo pointed out that UNRWA’s work helps maintain stability across the Middle East.

“When I say education, it means education to over half a million children,” she said. “Social services to the poorest of the poor, those people who are living on less than $1.80 per person per day.”

UNRWA was founded in 1949 with a mandate to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees displaced due to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

“Our work is very, very important beyond Gaza,” concluded Ms. Lorenzo. “It's very important to maintain the stability of the region.”