UNRWA chief has no intention to resign over allegations, hopes EU will continue funding
On Monday, UNRWA president Philippe Lazzarini stated he had no plans to step down and hoped the EU would keep funding his organization in the wake of claims that some of his employees took part in the Hamas attack on Israel.
Head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Lazzarini told reporters in Brussels after an EU foreign ministers’ conference, “No, I have no intention to resign.”
Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies in the Israeli government have demanded that Lazzarini resign following the revelation of grave accusations against his employees.
“We have one government calling for (my) resignation. We might have other voices, but I haven’t heard any other government,” Lazzarini said.
Twelve UNRWA employees were allegedly involved in the October 7 bombings by Hamas against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis and began a conflict in Gaza that has claimed the lives of over 26,000 Palestinians, according to Tel Aviv last month.
Fears of a potential infiltration by Hamas, an organization recognized as a terrorist organization by the EU, into the Western-funded UN agency were aroused by Israel’s grave accusations, which were made public on the same day that the UN’s top court ordered it to stop genocide in Gaza.
Nonetheless, Lazzarini asserted that Israel has not yet offered proof to support its claims.
The Israeli Defense Forces claimed over the weekend to have discovered Hamas’ communications and data center, which is located in a tunnel right beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. Since then, Lazzarini has claimed not to have been aware of the tunnel.
Lazzarini said there was a “mutual commitment” to address the issues that led the EU executive to begin a review of its support to UNRWA after talks with officials of the European Commission.
While the Commission assured that its humanitarian assistance would continue “unabated” in the wake of the allegations, it hinted that the €82 million development aid donation, which was scheduled for late February, would be contingent upon UNRWA auditing its hiring practices, strengthening its internal oversight mechanisms, and screening its 30,000-person workforce.
Lazzarini said that the talks he had had about the matter with the Commissioners had been “very constructive.”
The head of the bloc’s foreign policy, Josep Borrell, strongly hinted that because UNRWA had started the inquiry the bloc had demanded, EU funding will come in as expected.
“The Commission has never asked for the investigation to finish, but to be launched,” Borrell stated. “We are clever enough to understand that this can not be finished in 20 days.”
Catherine Colonna, a former foreign minister of France, is in charge of the independent investigation into UNRWA. By the end of March, an interim report is anticipated.
