Montreal, Canada – Canada has announced it will lift its funding freeze to the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) after facing intense criticism for cutting aid during Israel's war in Gaza.
Canada's International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said in a statement Friday that the government is “resuming funding to UNRWA so it can do more to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians.”
Canada, along with the United States and several other countries, joined the United States and several other countries in late January after Israel accused more than a dozen UNRWA personnel of more than 13,000 in the Gaza Strip of taking part in the October 7 Hamas attack. It had cut funding to UNRWA.
UNRWA immediately fired the staff member in question and announced that it would launch an investigation into the allegations, calling them “shocking” and “serious.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres also appointed an independent commission to investigate.
But Israel provided no concrete evidence to support its claims. Canadian broadcaster CBC News also reported in early February that Canada had not seen any intelligence supporting this claim before deciding to cut funding.
The decision to cut funding to UNRWA, which relies on government contributions to fund its operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, immediately sparked concerns and calls for a reconsideration from advocacy groups.
UNRWA is also a key agency providing critical humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where continued Israeli shelling and siege have killed more than 30,000 people, and where hunger and disease are widespread.
Humanitarian groups have warned that cutting UNRWA's funding will have dire implications for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and urged donor countries to reverse their decisions.
Since then, continued Israeli military attacks have further worsened the situation in the Strip. Around 12 Palestinian children have died in Gaza in recent weeks due to lack of food and water, according to the coastal enclave's health authorities.
“Reckless political decision”
On Friday afternoon, Canadian human rights activists welcomed the government's decision to lift the freeze on UNRWA funding, but stressed that funding should never have been cut in the first place.
“Resuming aid to UNRWA was a much-needed decision and would not have been possible without significant support from across civil society,” said Thomas Woodley, director of advocacy group Canada for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. Stated.
“Minister Hussen’s withdrawal of funding was a reckless political decision that should never have been made. Canada’s irresponsible actions threaten to collapse aid infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and cost the lives of millions of people. We are putting ourselves at risk,” Woodley said in a statement.
“Canada needs to significantly increase funding to UNRWA to compensate for the harm that UNRWA's actions have caused to the people of Gaza.”
The president of the National Council of Canadian Muslims also said, “No other agency can replicate UNRWA's central role in the humanitarian response to Gaza.”
“While funding should never have been suspended in the first place, the government has taken the right decision today to renew and increase funding,” the group's chief executive Stephen Brown said in a statement. Ta.
Pressure on Prime Minister Trudeau
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government was under pressure from pro-Israel lobby groups to maintain a funding freeze for UNRWA. Members of Trudeau's own Liberal Party have also urged him to withhold the funds.
Pro-Israel Liberal MPs Anthony Housefather and Marco Mendicino Said Thursday's letter said it recommended that Canada “work in concert with the United States and other allies.”
They called on the government to “leverage alternative partners and create new avenues for humanitarian assistance to meaningfully reach civilian populations in Gaza in the short term.”
But experts and humanitarian organizations say UNRWA is best suited to provide much-needed aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Hussen said the decision to resume funding “recognizes the important and serious process the United Nations has undertaken to address UNRWA's issues.”
It also recognizes “the critical role that UNRWA plays in providing much-needed assistance to more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and… to millions more across the wider region.” Yes, Hussen told reporters.
Palestinians in Gaza are starving in devastating conditions. The need to save lives has never been more urgent.
Today's announcement by Canada 🇨🇦 to resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) will save lives.
There is nothing else… pic.twitter.com/lYQalSibi1
— NCCM (@nccm) March 8, 2024