Minister stresses ‘we cannot turn our backs on Palestinian people’
Portugal has bucked the trend of recent days in which countries have been ‘freezing’ aid to UNRWA – the UN agency supporting Palestinian people in Gaza – by pledging an extra million euros “now”.
Israeli sources claimed last week that six UNRWA staff members were involved in the massacre of October 7 by Islamist group Hamas.
A report by the Israeli intelligence services cited by Sky News suggested that “out of approximately 12,000 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, about 10% are Hamas/ Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives and about 50% are first-degree relatives with a Hamas operative”.
These claims however have been countered by reports that Israel has been intent on trying to eliminate the UN agency as it “enshrines the right of Palestinians to return home”.
Nonetheless, the revelations led to a number of countries – including the US, UK, Germany and Sweden – ‘pausing’ funding to the point that vital supplies of fuel and bread flour are at risk of running out.
Portugal’s minister for foreign affairs – who only recently called for “full respect” for the provisional measures to prevent genocide and access aid in the Gaza strip imposed by the International Court of Justice, has led the country a different way, saying it chooses “to support UNRWA and give this public sign of confidence” (the additional contribution of one million euros).
Gomes Cravinho announced the ‘extraordinary contribution’ after a meeting in Brussels yesterday with UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini.
“I expressed all our solidarity and confidence in the work they are doing and announced that we will make a special donation of one million euros now,” he told reporters.
“We had already made a donation of four million euros to UNRWA at the end of last year (…), but this extra million comes under different circumstances, in a context in which some countries have announced that they are going to freeze their funding.
“We also think it’s very important that the International Court of Justice has emphasised the fundamental importance of providing all possible humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population in Gaza, and it (Portugal’s funding) therefore corresponds to this reality,” he added.
Tweeting on the foreign affairs ministry’s social media platform, Gomes Cravinho wrote: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is desperate and it is fundamental that we do not turn our backs on the Palestinian population at this difficult moment”.
The four million euros he spoke of are already in UNRWA’s possession; the additional one million should reach the organisation “in the coming weeks”.
Asked about the motivations of countries that suspended funding because of the agency’s alleged involvement in terrorist activities, Mr Cravinho said he was “satisfied with the explanations” given by Philippe Lazzarini.
“This is not something structural at UNRWA. It may have happened, as it can happen in any organisation, that there are people who commit crimes, who have activities that are illegitimate, and that doesn’t mean that the institution as a whole should be condemned, particularly in a situation where it is irreplaceable,” he said, adding that he will be bringing this subject up at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels today – because “you have to separate the wheat from the chaff”.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, has intimated he would like to see a “common position” adopted by Member States, as the various different approaches “to a problem that is critical are not good for the European Union”.
Mr Borrell explained that “some members States” have reacted to the situation by increasing support to UNRWA; “others said they would continue (…) but would wait to see the conclusions of the inquiry (now set up to look into the allegations), and others cut back”.
Portugal’s Israeli ambassador Dor Shapira has meantime criticised Portugal’s decision, saying: “There are other ways of supporting Palestinians in Gaza instead of financing an organisation whose members are involved in activities of terror and incitement (…) UNRWA is part of the problem and not the solution”. ND
Source material: LUSA/ Sky News/ Guardian/ Aljazeera/
