CAIRO, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 (WAFA) – The Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, today welcomed the report of the Independent Review Group on Israeli allegations regarding 12 UNRWA personnel.
Spokesman for the League's Secretary-General, Jamal Rushdi, stated that Aboul Gheit considered the report of the Independent Review Group, led by Catherine Colonna, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, proves beyond a doubt that the Israeli allegations that12 UNRWA personnel are members of groups that attacked Israel on 7 October are spurious and not supported by any concrete evidence.
He added that Israel’s allegations were an integral part of a systematic campaign intended to eliminate the United Nations for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), put an end to UNRWA’s pivotal role in providing relief support and employing some 6 million Palestinian refugees, and undermine its indispensable work in addressing the humanitarian disaster inflicted on Gaza.
He called upon the states that have frozen their funding to the UN agency based on spurious Israeli allegations to examine the findings of the Independent Review Group’s report, including the fact that the agency conducted a credible internal investigation into the Israeli allegations.
He stressed that the need for such states, first and foremost the US, to reconsider their positions and resume funding to the UN agency is a humanitarian necessity and a moral duty towards millions of Palestinians.
The Colonna report, which was commissioned by the UN to look at Unrwa's operations and policies in the wake of Israel's allegations and released on Monday, said Israeli authorities have not responded to letters from UNRWA in March and April requesting names and evidence in order to open an investigation.
The Israeli government, according to the independent review, "has not informed Unrwa of any concrete concerns relating to UNRWA staff since 2011".
In late January, Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the 7 October attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and over 200 were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
As a result of the allegations, UNRWA terminated the contracts of 10 of the employees (two were confirmed dead) and 16 countries paused or froze their financial contributions to the agency, amounting to around 50 percent of the agency's budget for the year.
Several countries that froze their contributions, including Australia, Canada and Finland, have since lifted those suspensions, with some citing a lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, in the US, UNRWA’s largest donor, Congress passed legislation last month that cuts off funding to the agency for the next year.
At the time the funding was cut, UNRWA said the decision would force the agency, the largest organisation operating in Gaza, into a dire situation with lives hanging in the balance.
In addition to its efforts in Gaza, UNRWA delivers essential services including education and healthcare to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees overall across the region, described in Colonna’s report as “indispensable”.
A UN spokesperson on Monday said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had accepted the review's recommendations and called on "all stakeholders to actively support UNRWA as it is a lifeline for Palestine refugees in the region".
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