Canada on Tuesday announced new C$40 million funding to provide food, water, and other humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
The funds will be allocated to international agencies including the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.
The announcement comes days after Canada and several other countries paused funding to the U.N. Refugee Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) following allegations by Israel that some of its staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
The decision comes after Amnesty International blasted the decision by the US and all the countries that followed it to suspend aid to UNRWA.
“The decisions by at least 11 donor countries to suspend funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), following allegations that individual staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks in southern Israel, will deal a devastating blow to more than two million refugees in the occupied Gaza Strip for whom the organization serves as a sole lifeline, said Amnesty International. The organization is urging states to reverse their decisions and refrain from suspending funding to UNRWA “
“Some of the very governments that announced they will cut off funds to UNRWA over these allegations have, in the meantime, continued to arm Israeli forces despite overwhelming evidence that these arms are used to commit war crimes and serious human rights violations. Rushing to freeze funds for humanitarian aid, based on allegations that are still being investigated, while refusing to even consider suspending support for the Israeli military is a stark example of double standards,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Other countries will reportedly reverse their UNRWA funding decision and follow Canada’s lead primarily because Israel has not been able to prove its allegations against the UNRWA employees. Even US officials admitted that they took the decision to pause the funding based on Israeli allegations only and that they never independently investigated the issue.
Ya Libnan/ Reuters
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.