Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa considered that UNRWA must take effective measures to improve its management (Reuters)

Japan announced its intention to resume its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after it froze it following Israel's accusation of a number of the relief agency's employees of participating in the Al-Aqsa Flood operation last October 7.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said - in a statement last night - that "Japan and UNRWA confirm that they will move forward with final coordination of the necessary efforts to resume the Japanese contribution" to funding the UN agency.

The statement was issued following a meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Tokyo - yesterday, Thursday - with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. The statement quoted the Japanese minister as emphasizing the need for UNRWA to take “effective measures to improve its management, enhance its transparency, track its funds, and ensure the neutrality of its employees.”

A United Nations spokeswoman said - last week - that the independent committee responsible for evaluating UNRWA's neutrality issued an interim report in which it identified "critical areas" that should be addressed. The committee is expected to issue its final report by April 20.

It is noteworthy that UNRWA has been suffering from a deep crisis since Israel accused about 10 of the relief agency’s 13,000 employees working in the Gaza Strip of “involvement in the attack launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) against Israel last October.”

Accusation and investigation

The Israeli accusation prompted a number of donor countries, most notably the United States, to suddenly cut off their funding to UNRWA, which represented a threat to the agency’s efforts to deliver necessary aid to Gaza, as the United Nations warns of an imminent famine.

Following the Israeli accusations, the United Nations launched an internal and independent investigation, noting that Israel did not provide UNRWA with any evidence to support its allegations that a number of its employees were involved in the attack.

Lazzarini accused Israel of seeking to destroy the international agency, which employs about 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where they provide health care, education and other basic services.

Lazzarini warned last month that the funding crisis in UNRWA is so great that the agency may not be able to continue its activities after this March.

But after several countries recently resumed or increased their funding, including Spain, Canada, and Australia, Lazzarini said this week that the agency now has enough “funding until the end of next May.”

Source: Agencies