UNRWA employs 13,000 people in Gaza and provides daily assistance to more than half of the Strip’s population (French)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that the number of its employees killed since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza reached 162, an unprecedented number in the history of the United Nations.

UNRWA also accused - earlier - Israel of torturing a number of its employees whom it arrested in the Gaza Strip, and said - in a statement - that its employees spoke of horrific events during their arrest and interrogation by the Israeli authorities.

UNRWA stressed that these forced confessions as a result of torture are used by the Israeli authorities to spread more misleading information about the agency as part of their attempts to dismantle the United Nations organization, warning that “this puts our employees in Gaza in danger, and has dangerous consequences for our operations in Gaza and the region.”

It indicated that it had filed a written protest with Israel regarding the arrest of its employees without receiving any response.

UNRWA employs 13,000 people in Gaza and provides daily assistance to more than half of the Strip's population of 2.2 million. The funding freeze by the United States and other Western countries has increased pressure on the agency, which was already suffering from severe pressure during the ongoing war. About 5 months.

Qatari support

On the other hand, Qatar pledged to provide $25 million to support UNRWA to overcome the difficult conditions experienced by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

This came in a statement delivered by Qatar’s representative, Alia Ahmed Al Thani, before the United Nations General Assembly, yesterday, Tuesday, about the challenges facing UNRWA, according to what was reported by the official Qatar News Agency, today, Wednesday.

The Qatari representative said that her country condemns the systematic targeting campaign aimed at dismantling UNRWA, and expresses its regret about some donor countries suspending their funding allocated to the agency, to which there is no alternative, and on which 5 million Palestinians depend, especially in light of the current catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

She pointed to the provision of additional support from the State of Qatar to UNRWA in the amount of 25 million US dollars, to help meet the emergency needs that UNRWA is currently facing, based on Qatar’s firm positions in support of the Palestinian people, especially in light of the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.

Since January 26, 18 countries and the European Union have decided to suspend their funding to UNRWA, based on Israel’s allegations that a number of agency employees participated in the Hamas movement’s attack on Israeli military bases adjacent to the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

These countries are the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Italy, and Britain, as well as Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Sweden, as well as New Zealand, Iceland, Romania, Estonia, and Sweden, in addition to the European Union, according to the United Nations.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies