2024-04-23 18:22:55
After an investigative commission found no evidence of terrorist support by the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA), Austria and Switzerland now want to examine the corresponding report and wait for expert recommendations. During a visit to Bern today, Schallenberg emphasized that UNRWA “is doing great work in Lebanon, in Jordan, in Syria”. But at the same time his “credibility (…) must be above all suspicion”.
If this is guaranteed, Austria will resume its financial support. Austria, like many other countries, stopped its support to the aid organization following the allegations from Israel once morest UNRWA. According to the Foreign Ministry, this is a sum of 3.4 million euros for 2024.
Israel said more than 450 UNRWA employees were agents of terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which is responsible for the October 7 massacre, “infiltrated” the Palestinian relief organization. However, the investigative commission headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna found no evidence of this, as stated in its report published yesterday.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, for his part, emphasized in a joint press conference with Schallenberg that Switzerland was now “eager to study the report, analyze it and see how the other donor states react”. Cassis said he believes he will “reach a conclusion in the next few days.”
EU for readmission
Meanwhile, the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Janez Lenarcic, and the most important donor country Norway called for a resumption of UNRWA funding. “I call on donors to support UNRWA – the lifeline of Palestinian refugees,” Lenarcic wrote today on X (Twitter). The USA, on the other hand, stated that they wanted to see “real progress” first.
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