An UNRWA health center in the Gaza Strip was destroyed by the Israeli aggression (Reuters)
Canadian Minister of International Aid, Ahmed Hussein, said on Friday that Ottawa will resume funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), thus becoming one of the first donor countries to announce the resumption of funding.
Canada announced the cessation of funding on January 26 after Israel accused some of the agency's employees of participating in the attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, for which it did not provide any evidence.
Hussein said in a statement, “Canada will lift the temporary suspension of funding for UNRWA,” without mentioning a specific time frame for that. He added, “UNRWA plays a vital role in Gaza.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that his country is awaiting the results of an internal investigation conducted by the United Nations into Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the attacks during which about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli statistics.
Hussein said Canada has reviewed the interim report of the UN investigation and looks forward to the final version.
16 countries suspended their funding to UNRWA after Israel accused 12 of the agency's 13,000 employees in the Gaza Strip of participating in an attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
UNRWA officials say they expect the initial investigation by the UN oversight office to take several weeks.
Source: Agencies