The UK foreign secretary announced Friday that the country is resuming its funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East (UNWRA) effective immediately, following a pause due to allegations that staff were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. In lifting the pause, the foreign secretary reiterated the importance of the UNWRA to Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy made the announcement in his first statement to Parliament and outlined the necessity of funding UNWRA. He said that the UK will release £21 million to the agency in order to “support its lifesaving work in Gaza and the provision of services in the region.” Further, Lammy outlined that the UK supports and reiterates the call for an immediate ceasefire, “the release of all hostages and a surge of aid into Gaza”.
Many countries paused funding to UNWRA following allegations that 12 of its staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas terror attacks. The claim was raised by Israel, and the UN opened a probe into the allegations. An independent review was conducted by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, which found that Israel did not provide evidence to back up its claims.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General expressed concern over the funding bans last month, saying that health facilities in Gaza were collapsing and highlighted the necessity of aid and funding to the civilians in Gaza. In May, Israel passed a preliminary motion to approve a bill designating the UNRWA as a terrorist organization. The EU recently resumed its funding and increased its emergency support to Palestine.
Lammy said:
Humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such catastrophe and it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground …UNRWA is absolutely central to these efforts. No other agency can get aid into Gaza at the scale needed … I was appalled by the allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attacks. We were reassured that after Catherine Colonna’s independent review, UNRWA is ensuring they meet the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures, including on vetting.
Lammy also pledged £5.5 million to UK-Med to support Gaza field hospitals. He emphasized that “any long-term solution must include a crackdown on the rise in settler violence and settlement expansion and a reformed Palestinian Authority, given the powers and resources it needs to govern effectively.”
