Despite allegations of terrorism

Germany resumes payments to UNRWA

The UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency has been widely criticized in recent months.

(Bild: AFP)

Germany intends to continue its cooperation with the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, it was announced on Wednesday. The background to this is the recommendations of a report by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. The investigation group acted on behalf of the UN.

UNRWA hit the headlines in January because Israel claimed that twelve of its employees were involved in the Hamas massacre on 7 October and that the organization as a whole had been infiltrated by Hamas. Some of the most important donors, including the USA and Germany, temporarily suspended payments as a result.

No financial need
In the Colonna report, independent experts concluded that UNRWA had established a number of "robust" mechanisms to ensure that the principle of neutrality was upheld. However, there is room for improvement. There would also be no financial bottlenecks. UNRWA's short-term financial requirements in Gaza are currently covered by existing funds.

"By continuing the acute cooperation, we are supporting UNRWA's vital and currently irreplaceable role in providing for the people in Gaza, as other international aid organizations are also currently dependent on UNRWA's operational structures in Gaza," the German statement said. According to information from Berlin, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Japan have also recently resumed their cooperation with the aid organization.

200 million from Germany alone
German cooperation with UNRWA in the Gaza Strip had been on hold since the end of January. However, money continued to flow for the organization's work in other regions: at the end of March, the German government provided the Palestinian relief organization with 45 million euros for its work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. According to the German government, it supported the UN relief organization UNRWA with more than 200 million euros in 2023 alone.

The German government has intensively examined the accusations made by Israel against UNRWA and has been in close contact with the Israeli government, the United Nations and other international donors, the statement continued. It will coordinate closely with its closest international partners on the disbursement of further funds. In view of the catastrophic situation of the people in the Gaza Strip, there have recently been repeated calls for further support for the Palestinian relief organization.

Berlin wants to set an example
At the same time, Germany called for the recommendations of the Colonna report to be implemented immediately. The strengthening of UNRWA's internal audit and its staffing with international UN personnel, improved external supervision of project management, a further continuous comparison of UNRWA employee lists with the Israeli security authorities and the expansion of internal training would be of particular importance.