France “does not plan any new payment” to a UN agency in Gaza whose employees are suspected of having participated in the Hamas attack

The Quai d’Orsay cites accusations of “exceptional seriousness” and announces that no payment will be made in the first quarter

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A distribution of humanitarian aid in the center of Rafah by the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), January 28, 2024. (AFP)

France has announced that it is not planning any new payments to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the first quarter of 2024, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday January 28. This decision follows information shared by Israel against employees, accused of having been involved in the bloody Hamas attack on the soil of the Jewish state on October 7.

The ministry cites accusations of “exceptional gravity” And says he wants to wait “that the investigations launched in recent days shed light on past facts and be accompanied by concrete measures”.

In detail, specifies the text, Paris “has not planned a new payment in the first quarter of 2024 and will decide when the time comes what action to take in conjunction with the United Nations and the main donors.” France, which paid 60 million euros to UNRWA last year, follows in the footsteps of several Western countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Italy and Finland.

UNRWA, for its part, immediately reacted to the Israeli accusations by dismissing the people involved and promising a thorough investigation and, if this participation was proven, legal proceedings, but Israel nevertheless announced its decision to ban for the agency to continue working in Gaza after the war.


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