*No evidence from Israel to back UNRWA accusations, says EU humanitarian chief* by Nette Noestlinger and Gabriela Baczynska, Reuters, March 14 https://www.reuters.com/world/no-evidence-israel-back-unrwa-accusations-says-eu-humanitarian-chief-2024-03-14/
BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - The European Union's top humanitarian aid official said on Thursday he had seen no evidence from Israel to back its accusations against staff from the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), which should continue playing a "critical" role in Gaza. UNRWA, which provides aid and services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and across the region, has been in crisis since Israel accused a dozen of its staff of involvement in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel. The allegations prompted UNRWA's biggest donor, the United States, and some others to pause funding, putting the agency's future in doubt. . . . *Senator Van Hollen Says Netanyahu Spreading 'Flat Out Lies' About UNRWA* The Maryland senator defended the organization on CBS and said there was no evidence that it was a "proxy for Hamas." by Olivia Rosane, Common Dreams, March 17, 2024 https://www.commondreams.org/news/van-hollen-netanyahu-lies-unrwa . . . [Van Hollens said] "*Netanyahu has wanted to get rid of UNRWA* because he had seen them as a means to continue the hopes of the Palestinian people for a homeland of their own," Van Hollen said, adding that the right-wing Israeli leader's "primary objective" was preventing the formation of a Palestinian state. *However, the dismantling of UNRWA would be especially catastrophic amid Israel's ongoing bombardment and invasion of Gaza, which has killed more than 31,000 people and put the survivors at risk of famine. No other organization has the infrastructure in place to distribute the necessary aid.* . . . Also on "Face the Nation" Sunday,* United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Chief Executive Catherine Russell described the impact that a lack of aid was having on the children of Gaza.* *"We know now that children are dying of malnutrition in Gaza," *she told Brennan. Russell said that not enough aid was reaching those who needed it, calling both air drops and sea deliveries "a drop in the bucket." . . . *UNRWA Says Israel Tortured & Waterboarded Staffers, Leading to False Confessions* DemocracyNow! Headline, March 12, 2024 https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/12/headlines/unrwa_says_israel_tortured_waterboarded_staffers_leading_to_false_confessions The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has accused the Israeli military of beating and waterboarding some of its staff held in Israeli prisons. UNRWA states in a new report, “Agency staff members have been subject to threats and coercion by the Israeli authorities while in detention, and pressured to make false statements against the Agency, including that the Agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October 2023 atrocities.” UNRWA has faced a crisis ever since Israel accused a number of UNRWA staff workers of taking part in the October 7 attacks. Although Israel did not share evidence to back up its claim, many countries, including the United States, cut off funding to UNRWA despite Gaza’s catastrophic humanitarian crisis. In recent days Sweden and Canada resumed funding. # # # *UNRWA* United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNRWA -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29508): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29508 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104996537/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
