Italy has decided to resume its funding to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians UNRWA. UNRWA will receive 5 million euros from the Italian government, as part of a 35 million euro aid package that will benefit the Palestinians. 30 million will go to a food program of other UN organizations in Gaza in which Italy is already involved.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani made these pledges during a visit by Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa of the Palestinian Authority to Rome. The Palestinian Authority is the internationally recognized authority, but has no power in Gaza.
Like the Netherlands and a number of Western countries, Italy halted aid to UNRWA after Israeli accusations earlier this year. Employees of UNRWA, which is the main aid agency in Gaza and the West Bank, are believed to have been involved in the Hamas attack on October 7. Pending further investigation, UNRWA has already dismissed twelve people.
There is currently no evidence to support Israel’s claims that there are systematic ties between Israel and Hamas, an independent investigation concluded a month ago. He did make recommendations with which UNRWA could guarantee its own independence. After that investigation, many countries resumed their funding of the organization. The Netherlands does not want to make a new contribution until UNRWA has implemented the recommendations. Italy does so, but sets the condition that the money ‘will only finance specific projects that help Palestinian refugees, but after strict controls that guarantee that not a cent contributes to supporting terrorism’