Carmichael highlights need for Gaza aid in question on UNRWA funding suspension

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today challenged ministers in Parliament on evidence in support of the suspension of funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The UK paused funding for the UN agency following allegations by the Israeli government that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks. The US, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany have also suspended additional funding to the UN agency. UNRWA says it has ordered an investigation into information supplied by Israel.

Mr Carmichael warned that the complete cut off in funding risks worsening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Created in 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, is the biggest UN agency operating in Gaza. It provides health care, education and other humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It employs around 13,000 people inside Gaza. Since Israel began its offensive in response to the 7 October attacks, UNRWA has used its facilities across Gaza to shelter hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.

Speaking in the House, Mr Carmichael asked:

“Have the Government of Israel yet shared with His Majesty’s Government their purported evidence of United Nations Relief and Works Agency complicity in the attacks of 7 October, and if so, when did they do it?”

Responding for the government, Minister of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Andrew Mitchell MP said:

“The review of UNRWA is being conducted first and foremost by the independent UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, and secondly, Catherine Colonna, the former French Foreign Minister, is engaged in writing a separate report. It is to both those two organisations that the evidence is required to be delivered.”

Reacting after the exchange, Mr Carmichael said:

“The minister’s non-answer tells a tale in of itself. Clearly the government has not received any evidence in support of the claims against UNRWA from the Israeli government and yet it is those claims which have led to the suspension of funding to UNRWA by the UK. Hiding behind a review by another organisation will not wash.

“UNRWA is one of the few organisations with a successful track record of helping Palestinians to meet their basic needs in the horrific situation in which they find themselves. To hobble it now and not even expect evidence to support such a decision sets a terrible precedent.

“There is a humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza. Half of the population are children and there is a growing risk of famine. An immediate humanitarian ceasefire is needed, so that regular aid can be restored.”