Finland and Iceland suspended their contributions to UNRWA after more than a dozen of their staff members were suspected of taking part in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
Finland on Saturday decided to suspend funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after 12 of its staff members were suspected of involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
“We must ensure that not a single euro of Finnish funds goes to Hamas or other terrorists,” Tavio said in a press release.
Iceland also “froze” its contributions to UNRWA. Iceland’s Foreign Minister Bjarni Benediksson called for a thorough investigation and said contributions would be frozen pending consultation with other Nordic countries.
Denmark, Norway and Sweden have so far not joined other donor countries such as the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy in similar actions.
UNRWA is the United Nations humanitarian agency that provides basic public services such as education, health care, and social services to Palestinian refugees.
It has a staff of 28,000 Palestinians.
Guterres urges reconsideration
Secretary-General António Guterres has appealed to countries that have suspended funding to the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to reconsider their decisions to ensure the continuation of vital humanitarian work.
UNRWA Director-General Philip Lazzarini says it is shocking that funding to UNRWA has been cut in response to allegations against a small group of staff, and says UNRWA will terminate the contract and call for a transparent and independent investigation. He said he had taken immediate action. .
“It would be highly irresponsible to sanction entire authorities and the communities they serve based on allegations of criminal activity against a few individuals, especially in the region, where wars, displacement, and displacement have occurred,” Lazzarini said in a statement. , at a time of political crisis.”