CANBERRA: Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong has announced that the country will resume funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said that a new agreement was being finalized, and the country would then restore $6m in funding for the UN agency.
The funds had been suspended in January after allegations by Israel that UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 massacres.
Australia to Resume Funding for UNRWA
Wong stated that the best available advice from the Australian government and agencies lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist body and that existing safeguards sufficiently secure Australian taxpayer funding.
Earlier, Canada also announced it would be resuming funding to the UNRWA. It further said that it was reassured following receiving a UN report probing Israel’s accusations.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry said that around 29 Palestinians were killed while awaiting aid in two different Israeli attacks in Gaza on Thursday. The health ministry said that eight people were killed in the first incident when Israeli airstrike targeted an aid distribution center in Al-Nuseirat camp in Gaza.
The ministry maintained that around 21 people were killed and 150 injured by Israeli gunfire at people awaiting aid trucks in northern Gaza.
The conflict in the Gaza Strip has displaced most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people. Deadly incidents and chaotic scenes have taken place during aid distributions as desperately needy people scrambled for help.
Earlier, Palestinian health officials said that Israeli forces have killed around 100 Palestinians as they waited for an aid delivery in Gaza City. Since October 7, Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed over 31,000 people and injured more than 71,500, Gaza health authorities said.
With the war in the Gaza now in its sixth month, the United Nations has warned that 576,000 people in the Strip– one quarter of the population – are on the brink of starvation and international pressure has been growing on Israel to permit more access.
