Canada resumes funding for UNRWA

The Canadian government announced on Friday that it will resume funding for the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which has been suspended since the end of January after it learned of the alleged participation of some of its employees in attacks launched by the Israeli occupation. The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) against Israeli territory. After examining the report issued by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, as well as the independent investigation led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Canada's Department for International Development announced the payments from Ottawa to the agency. Thus, Canadian Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussein, confirmed that although the authorities take the accusations against the agency seriously, Ottawa is satisfied with the measures taken to shed light on this matter, according to what was reported by Radio-Canada. “As a government, we have a responsibility to ensure Canadians have confidence in the organizations we support. That's why we have taken prudent steps to allow the necessary investigation to take place,” Minister Hussen explained Friday. Therefore, the Canadian government will begin making the scheduled payment of $25 million to UNRWA next April. Ottawa recalled that women and children are the main victims of the Israeli attack that began on the Gaza Strip after the Hamas attacks. On the other hand, Hussein announced that the Canadian executive authority had reached an agreement with the Jordanian authorities and the World Food Program to carry out air deliveries of humanitarian aid over the enclave. Due to the blockade imposed on the crossings in Gaza, some countries are now choosing this route to deliver aid. In fact, at least five people were killed and several others were injured on Friday after an air-dropped package loaded with humanitarian aid fell to the ground in an uncontrollable manner due to a parachute failure. Hamas launched a series of attacks against Israel in early October, which left nearly 1,200 people dead and 240 hostages. In response, Israel launched a bloody counterattack on the Gaza Strip, which, according to authorities in the militia-controlled Strip, left more than 30,000 dead and 70,000 wounded. At the end of January, information emerged allegedly linking UNRWA employees to Hamas attacks. Canada, along with several other countries, including the United States, announced the suspension of funding for the United Nations agency, which has launched an investigation.