(MENAFN- Swissinfo) With famine looming in Gaza, 17 aid organisations have called for the rapid release of Swiss funds for the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). A decision from Bern is expected later in the year.
This content was published on March 22, 2024 - 10:42 3 minutes Keystone-SDA
Responding to a request by the Keystone-SDA news agency, the Swiss foreign ministry said a decision on the disbursement of the CHF20 million ($22.21 million) in contributions planned for 2024 could only be made once more information was available on the serious allegations against the aid organisation.
In addition, support for humanitarian groups in the Middle East can only be granted after consultation with the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Swiss parliament, following a decision by law-makders to this effect in December.
According to the foreign ministry, such consultations regarding UNRWA are scheduled for the second quarter of 2024. If approved, the funds would moreover be paid out in separate instalments, the ministry added.
With its contribution, Switzerland is one of the largest donors to the Palestinian relief works body.
More More What are the allegations upending UNRWA's aid efforts in Gaza?
This content was published on Mar 1, 2024 Israel claims that UNRWA colludes with Hamas, leading donors like Switzerland to withhold funding for the agency. A look at the allegations plaguing the humanitarian organisation.
Read more: What are the allegations upending UNRWA's aid efforts in Gaza? UNRWA head in parliament
Next Tuesday, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives is set to speak with the Swiss UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini. The invitation was extended in order to discuss the situation in which UNRWA currently finds itself, committee president Laurent Wehrli from the centre-right Radical Liberal party told the media.
The Foreign Affairs Committee is likely to demand a statement from Lazzarini on the alleged involvement of twelve UNRWA employees in the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The United Nations launched an internal and external investigation in mid-February after these allegations made by Israel became known. The external group of experts identified a need for improvement in an interim report. Its final report is due to be published on April 20.
Several countries suspended their payments to the aid organisation in the wake of the allegations. Sweden has since resumed funding.
Subscribe here to read our weekly top stories
No collective punishment
The 17 NGOs in question, including Amnesty International, various peace organisations, the Group for a Switzerland without an Army, and Palestine solidarity groups, appealed to the Foreign Affiars Committee and the Swiss government to pay the contribution to UNRWA as quickly as possible, citing April as a timeframe. They say Gaza is facing acute famine as a result of human actions.
Israel has for years been vocally critical of UNRWA; this latter, along with the UN, says that millions of people in need of aid in Gaza should not be collectively punished for the crimes of individuals. The relief organisation is currently seen as the only feasible option for providing humanitarian aid to more than two million civilians suffering from the consequences of the war.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kc,dos
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here , and if you have feedback on this news story please write to ... .
Articles in this story
What are the allegations upending UNRWA's aid efforts in Gaza?
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at ... .
MENAFN24032024000210011054ID1108014632
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.