UN agency for Palestine says only 4 countries maintain aid suspension

Geneva (Switzerland), Apr 30 (EFE) - Most of the countries that suspended aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) over Israeli accusations of ties to Hamas have resumed their financial support, with only four (the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland) maintaining their suspension, the agency's commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday.

"The money that had been pledged to the agency and is now on hold totals some 267 million dollars (about 249 million euros), much of it from the United States," Lazzarini told a press conference after appearing before UN members at the European headquarters in Geneva to report on the situation of the agency and Gaza.

The UN humanitarian representative explained that the United States, the main donor in recent years, has indicated that it will not be able to support the agency before March 2025, while the United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland have not yet taken firm decisions on whether to lift or maintain the suspension of aid.

Lazzarini stressed that these funding problems, stemming from Israeli allegations that at least 19 UNRWA employees were involved in the 7 October terrorist attacks, have been at least partially alleviated by increased private donations, which have raised $115 million (107 million euros) in six months.

CAMERA: ANISIA GIL

SOUNDBITES OF PHILIPPE LAZZARINI, COMMISSIONER GENERAL OF THE UN AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES (UNRWA).