After a seven-month hiatus, Britain announces the resumption of funding for UNRWA

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced today, Friday, his government's decision to resume funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

In a speech before the British House of Commons, Lammy explained that Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government had decided to resume funding UNRWA, after a hiatus of about seven months, noting that his country's annual funding of 21 million pounds to UNRWA would include funds directed towards "administrative reforms" recommended by the United Nations.

“I am appalled by the allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attacks, but the UN takes these allegations very seriously,” Lamy told the House of Commons, adding that “the UK is reassured by an independent review that the agency has taken steps to ensure it adheres to the highest standards of impartiality and strengthens its procedures, including vetting.”

"Partners like Japan, the EU and Norway have now also acted. This government will act too. I can assure the House that we will reverse the decision to suspend funding to UNRWA," he continued, announcing that the UK would provide £21 million to UNRWA.

Since January 26, 18 countries and the European Union have suspended their funding to the UN agency, against the backdrop of Israeli allegations that a number of its employees participated in the attack on settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, while the agency announced that it is investigating these allegations.

But most of these parties have begun, since last March, to review their decisions regarding UNRWA, after receiving guarantees from the UN agency to conduct additional audits of its expenses and employees.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been waging a war on Gaza, resulting in more than 128,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and deadly famine.