Israel lauds Congress’ blow to UN agency with alleged Hamas ties as investigations continue

Congress included a measure to block funding to a controversial United Nations agency that’s underneath investigation for alleged ties to Hamas. 

Israel praised the transfer to forestall funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees within the Near East (UNRWA) as a part of the spending invoice handed early Saturday morning.

“The historic ban on US funding to UNRWA that passed today with overwhelming bipartisan support, demonstrates what we knew all along: UNRWA is part of the problem and can not be part of the solution,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote in a publish on social media platform X, including a plea for different nations to observe go well with. 

“UNRWA will not be a part of Gaza’s landscape in the aftermath of Hamas,” Katz wrote. “Thousands of UNRWA employees are involved in Hamas terror activities, and their facilities were used for terrorist purposes.”,

UNRWA suffered a debilitating price range freeze after allegations surfaced in January that at the least 12 of its staff had ties to and assisted Hamas throughout the October 7 assault on Israel. The U.S. first reduce funding primarily based on data Israel had shared, adopted by a number of different main allies, and UNRWA fired the 12 staff named within the allegations.

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Some nations, such as Canada and Sweden, resumed funding primarily based on their very own preliminary evaluations, however the U.S. doubled down on its dedication to preserve UNRWA at a distance with a brand new provision included within the $1.2 trillion authorities spending invoice handed on Friday night time within the House and authorised within the Senate on Saturday. 

A protester holds a flag exterior the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) throughout an illustration. The Palestinian refugees’ councils organized an illustration to assist the UNRWA, which coincides with the convening of the Consultative Committee and the donor and refugee-hosting international locations in Beirut.  (Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket by way of Getty Images)

The invoice included a ban on funding for UNRWA for the rest of calendar yr 2024 and blocks any funding till March 25, 2025. 

“Notwithstanding any other provision of any other division of this Act, funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act or other Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs, including provisions of Acts providing supplemental appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs, may not be used for a contribution, grant, or other payment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency,” the merchandise states. 

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UNRWA earlier this week argued in a statement that the funding cut will “undermine the effort to assist Gazans and potentially further weaken regional stability.” 

Hamas terrorists kidnap a bloodied Israel woman into the Gaza Strip.  (Hamas-Telegram)

The bill does, however, set aside $175 million in funds for other humanitarian projects in the West Bank and Gaza, which will be distributed through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to The Times of Israel. 

The funds remain subject to severe scrutiny of spending and dispersal and subsequent review in order to avoid diversion to Hamas or other terrorist and extremist entities in the Palestinian territories.

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The U.S. is also pursuing President Biden’s plan to set up a short lived pier within the Mediterranean Sea to present a maritime hall for humanitarian assist supply. The first vessel carrying tools vital to construct the pier departed from Cyprus on March 10, The Military Times reported. 

The U.S. Capitol constructing in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

UNRWA stays underneath two investigations to decide the complete extent of its alleged ties to Hamas, which Israeli intelligence alleges run so deep that it contains tons of if not hundreds of UNRWA staff with ties to the terrorist group. 

The United Nations investigation, carried out by its Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), will publish its findings in April, however an interim report offered to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres offered data that led some nations to reverse their funding freeze for the agency. 

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Another, unbiased overview carried out by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna commenced following the allegations towards the UNRWA staff, particularly citing considerations that UNRWA was not sustaining its neutrality coverage. 

Colonna’s group issued an interim report on March 20, 2024, with a accomplished report anticipated precisely one month later. The interim report claimed that URNWA has “a significant number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance with the Humanitarian Principle of neutrality, and the group has also identified critical areas that still need to be addressed.”