Italy has announced it will restore funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) months after it suspended aid to the agency over Israeli allegations linking UN staff to the deadly October 7 attack.
Rome joins several Western donors in resuming aid after an independent review of UNRWA, led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found that Israel had not provided any evidence to back its claims.
Israel launched a brutal military offensive in the wake of the October 7 attack, killing more than 35,000 Palestinians. Up to 1,100 people were killed and about 250 people were taken captive in the attack inside Israel claimed by the Hamas group.
The Palestinian enclave remains in ruins after nearly eight months of Israel’s war.
Most of the key donors, including the United States and the European Union, have resumed funding due to the unprecedented humanitarian situation in Gaza worsened by Israel’s restrictions on aid delivery.
“Italy has decided to resume financing specific projects intended for assistance to Palestinian refugees, but only after rigorous controls that guarantee that not even a penny risks ending up supporting terrorism,” Antonio Tajani told Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa during a meeting on Saturday.
Tajani said he had informed the visiting premier “that the government has arranged new funding for the Palestinian population, for a total of 35 million euros ($38m)”.
“Of this, five million will be allocated to UNRWA,” he said in a statement, with the remaining 30 million euros allocated to Italy’s “Food for Gaza” initiative in coordination with other UN aid agencies.
Mustafa also held talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during which the Italian prime minister told Mustafa that Rome supported efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas and improved humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, her office said in a…
Original from www.aljazeera.com