Opinion | The World Needs to Stand by UNRWA
New York TimesFeb 05
Japan announced on Friday that it will resume funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), joining a growing number of countries that have reinstated funding to the organization in recent weeks.
Many nations, including Australia and Sweden, stopped funding UNRWA in January after a dozen of its employees were accused of playing a role in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
It's more important than ever that countries resume their funding of UNRWA. The agency provides vital services to millions of people, and with the current destruction in Gaza, these services are more essential than ever. Since Oct. 2023, thousands of people have been killed in Gaza, and millions have been displaced — UNRWA is a lifeline in these circumstances. While the allegations that UNRWA employees participated in the heinous attacks on Oct. 7 are upsetting, to withhold services for millions of people over the alleged crimes of a dozen amounts to nothing more than callous collective punishment.
UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, in which terrorists murdered hundreds of innocent men, women, and children. This, however, wasn't the start of issues regarding the organization. The agency has a documented history of collaborating with Hamas terrorists, schools run by the organization have been known to teach violent anti-Israel propaganda, and UNRWA facilities have been found to be used by Hamas to store weapons and as entrances to terrorist tunnels. Nations should continue to withhold their funding from UNRWA to ensure their funds aren't being used for terrorism, and future humanitarian operations in Gaza should be carried out by reputable nongovernmental organizations.
There's a 60% chance that an independent review will find UNRWA staff involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, according to the Metaculus prediction community.