Palestine Urges US To Cancel UNRWA's Decision To Stop Funding

Illustration (UnICEF/Abed Zaqout via news.un.org)

JAKARTA - A top official of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday asked the United States and Canada to cancel plans to temporarily suspend funding of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

"We are calling on countries announcing the termination of their support for UNRWA to immediately cancel the decision," Hussein al-Sheikh, Secretary-General of PLO, said as quoted by Antara on Sunday.

He assessed that the suspension would have a major political and humanitarian impact, because until now the Palestinian people are very dependent on UNRWA assistance.

"We need maximum support for this international organization and have not stopped supporting and assisting the organization," he said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates urged these countries to step up the decision to suspend aid for UNRWA.

Kementerian itu menilai keputusan tersebut sebagai upaya mencegah penyelidikan terhadap UNRWA, dan merupakan pelanggaran terhadap mandat dan tugas kemanusiaan mereka.

Earlier on Saturday, the US and Canada announced a temporary suspension of funding for UNRWA, after Israel issued allegations that some UNRWA staff were involved in the Hamas attack on October 7.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requested a "fast" investigation into Israel's allegations.

UNRWA is not only a UN agency targeted by Israel, but also the World Health Organization (WHO).

Israel accused WHO of colluding with Hamas in the use of hospitals in Gaza to support the Palestinian resistance group's military operations.