Norwegian foreign minister says freezing of payments to the UN Palestinian relief group over its ties to Hamas likely to be temporary.
By World Israel News Staff
Foreign donors to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) who suspended payments to the controversial relief agency will soon resume their funding, Norway’s foreign minister said Wednesday, after the European Union announced it had unfrozen 50 million Euros earmarked for UNRWA.
Speaking in an interview with Reuters Wednesday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide defended his government’s support for UNRWA, adding that he believes other countries will resume their support for the UN body, despite revelations of its ties to the Hamas terror organization.
“I think that a large number of those countries who suspended are [having] second thoughts,” Barth Eide said, arguing that the donor states “cannot punish the whole Palestinian society.”
“This is increasingly recognized and agreed by many.”
“But then, of course, they need an honorable way out, which means they are hoping, I think — without speaking for individual countries — that they will get something from these investigations that suggest that they can say: ‘Well, we needed to suspend, but now we’re back.’”
The Norwegian government transferred $26 million to UNRWA in February, rebuffing calls to withhold funding for the agency.
Dozens of UNRWA employees have ties to Gaza terror groups, with many taking part in the October 7th massacres of Israelis, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud) said last month.
Following the revelations, the United Nations launched an independent “review group” to assess whether UNRWA is maintaining its neutrality and responding appropriately to alleged breaches of that neutrality.
On Friday, the European Union issued a statement announcing it would resume payments to UNRWA, beginning with a 50 million Euro transfer, adding it would increase emergency funding for Palestinian relief.
The EU justified its funding for UNRWA, citing a planned internal staff review.
“Following exchanges with the Commission, UNRWA has also indicated that it stands ready to ensure that a review of its staff is carried out to confirm they did not participate in the attacks and that further controls are put in place to mitigate such risks in the future.”
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