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The deputy spokesman for the US State Department, Vedant Patel, said on Monday that Washington would redirect any funds allocated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to other relief agencies operating in Gaza if Congress passed legislation banning its funding.
The administration of US President Joe Biden said last month that it had temporarily suspended new funding for UNRWA while it investigated allegations of involvement of 12 staff members in attacks on October 7 on lands occupied by Israel.
A bill unveiled by members of the Senate on Sunday included a provision that would prevent the agency from receiving funds.
Patel said at a press conference that the bill, which was negotiated by the Biden administration and a group of senators from both parties, included $1.4 billion for humanitarian aid to Gaza, but this funding might be directed to the World Food Program of the United Nations or the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) or other relief organizations.
He added, “These are allocations that we believe will save lives and have a direct impact on Palestinian civilians, and we will redirect UNRWA funding to other partners to provide assistance in Gaza.”
The State Department said it had provided $121 million to UNRWA in the current fiscal year, and the agency had only $300,000 left of the allocated funds. Washington usually granted UNRWA between $300 million and $400 million annually.
UNRWA warned last week that it might have to stop its operations by the end of February if funding was not resumed after it was suspended by the United States and a number of important donors.
Israel said that 12 of UNRWA’s staff, numbering 13,000 in Gaza, had participated in Hamas attacks.
An Israeli official told Reuters that the Foreign Ministry had tasked a task force with developing a proposal to direct UNRWA allocations to other organizations, including the World Food Program and the US Agency for International Development in Washington.
Patel said that Washington supported UNRWA “for its very important work” as the main relief agency for the Palestinians, but it wanted to see “concrete results” from UNRWA’s investigation into Israel’s allegations, refusing to specify when the United States would make a decision on resuming funding.
Patel said, “We believe that we can continue to do important work through other non-governmental organizations and other partners. At the same time, we will continue to have conversations with donor countries regarding support for UNRWA.”
Reuters