AMMAN: Jordan has called for continued support for the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) for its “indispensable” role in Gaza, Jordanian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
The demand was made by Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi during a telephonic conversation with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. He said that the UN agency plays a key role in delivering humanitarian help to more than two million Palestinian people facing a humanitarian disaster as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The top diplomat also underlined the need “to continue providing the necessary help to the UN agency to enable it to continue providing its services in the Gaza Strip,” Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Lazzarini and Safadi warned that any shortfall in funding for UNRWA, which constitutes the main lifeline in Gaza, will immediately affect the agency’s capability to provide humanitarian help to Gaza, and will cause more misery to its people.
The UK, US, Australia, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands and Finland, and Finland suspended funding to UNRWA after allegations by Israel on Friday that agency staffers were allegedly involved in the Oct. 7 attack.
Jordan Calls for Continued Support for UNRWA Amid Israeli Allegations
Norway said it would continue to support Palestinian people through the UN agency. Ireland also stated that it would not suspend funding to the UN agency.
The Israeli allegations are not the first of their kind. Since the start of war on Gaza, Israel has alleged UNRWA staff of working for Hamas, in what was considered a “justification” for assaulting the organization’s schools and health facilities in the Gaza strip, which houses tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians, analysts said.
Similarly, on Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found claim of South Africa that Israel is committing genocide credible. The court had issued an interim order asking Israel to halt obstructing aid deliveries into the Strip and to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Breaking the ICJ’s verdict, Israel continues its onslaught on Gaza where more than 26,422 Palestinians have been killed including women and children, and 65,087 others wounded since Oct. 7, Palestinian health authorities said.
