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United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has announced the creation of an independent panel to assess UNRWA, its embattled agency tasked with helping Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA is under fire over accusations by Israel that 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
More than a dozen countries, including the US, Germany, Britain and Sweden, have suspended funding to the agency.
The new independent panel will be led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, who will work with three European research organisations, the UN said in a statement.
The goal of the probe is to “assess whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made.”
The panel is due to submit an interim report to Mr Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, in late March, and then a final one in late April, with, if necessary, recommendations for “improvement and strengthening” of the agency’s mechanisms.
This assessment is separate from an internal probe that the UN launched last month after the accusations were first made against the 12 UNRWA employees.
The 7 October attack by Hamas resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged last week that the UN agency had been “totally infiltrated” by Hamas.
Vowing to eliminate the group, Israel launched a massive military offensive that has killed at least 27,478 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The European groups helping in this independent assessment of UNRWA are the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
UNRWA stands for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Spain to boost UNRWA funding after donors suspend aid
Spain has announced that it would give an additional €3.5 million in aid to UNRWA, which is facing a cash crunch after several nations suspended their funding.
Over a dozen countries, including major donors the United States, Germany, Britain and Sweden, have suspended their funding to the agency over Israeli accusations that 12 of its staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
UNRWA — which has received a Norwegian nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize — has warned that it will have to cease operations by the end of February if the funding is significantly pulled.
“Spain will release an urgent envelope of €3.5m so that UNRWA can maintain its activities in the short term,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Luis Albares told a parliamentary committee.
“UNRWA’s situation is desperate and there is a serious risk that its humanitarian activities will be paralysed in Gaza within a few weeks,” he said.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said yesterday that suspended total funds currently amount to “more than $440m (€410m), or around half the agency’s expected funds for 2024”.
Spain is one of the most critical voices in Europe of Israel’s offensive against Hamas.
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