Britain’s newly elected Labour Party government announced on Friday that it would resume funding to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and called on Israel to facilitate more aid to Gaza.
Britain was one of several countries to halt their funding to the UNRWA following accusations by Israel that some agency staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
British foreign minister David Lammy informed parliament that he was satisfied by the agency’s measures, which would provide education, health, and aid to millions of Palestinians, to “ensure it meets the highest standards of neutrality”.
Consequently, the government would now provide 21 million pounds ($27.1 million) in new funding.
Lammy mentioned that malnutrition in Gaza was now so severe that mothers could not produce breast milk for their children and the rates of diarrhea were 40 times their normal rates and polio had been detected.
“Humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe, and it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground.
“UNRWA is central to these efforts. No other agency can deliver aid at the scale needed,” He said.
Japan, Germany, Italy, Australia, and Canada have resumed funding to the agency already.
Israel accuses UNRWA of complying with Hamas, saying that the militant Islamist group was embedded within the UN agency’s infrastructure.
A review, led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and published in April suggested that Israel had not provided evidence for its accusations that hundreds are members of militant groups.
In February, Britain’s former foreign minister David Cameron, who was replaced by Lammy following the Labour Party’s election victory on July 4, said he wanted an “absolute guarantee” that UNRWA would not employ staff who were willing to attack Israel.
