Sir, – I have witnessed at first hand the professionalism, courage and dedication of Unwra (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) staff in all five of its fields – Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan – most of whom are Palestinians. The decision by the US and several of its western allies to suspend funding to the agency in the midst of the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s relentless bombardment and complete siege of Gaza over the past 114 days makes them complicit in the collective punishment of 2.3 million Palestinians (“UN agency investigates staff suspected of Hamas attack role’”, News, January 27th).
The allegation that 12 Unrwa staff, from a total of 13,000 employees in Gaza, were involved in the Hamas attacks on October 7th is serious but does not warrant sanctioning the entire agency and jeopardising its crucial humanitarian services. A total of 152 Unrwa staff have been killed in Gaza, more than in any other single conflict in the UN’s 78-year history.
Israel has long advanced the aim of disbanding Unrwa as the agency maintains the Palestinian right of return to their homeland. Unrwa is also a permanent reminder of the Nakba, having been created to provide for the welfare of 750,000 Palestinians after they were ethnically cleansed from their homeland in 1948.
The need for Unrwa’s services has arguably never been as acute as it is today in Gaza.
Funding to the agency needs to be restored and political attacks resisted to allow it to fulfil its urgently needed humanitarian role in Gaza. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN McCLOSKEY,
Director,
Centre for Global Education,
Belfast.