JERUSALEM: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, announced a $1.6 billion funding appeal Tuesday to help counter “chronic” budget shortfalls.
It is the latest in a series of warnings from UNRWA on possible deep cuts if the international community fails to provide more support.
“Chronic agency budget shortfalls threaten the livelihoods and well-being of the Palestine refugees that UNRWA serves and pose a serious threat to the agency’s ability to maintain services,” agency head Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.
UNRWA’s funding suffered a blow in 2018 when former US president Donald Trump cut support to the agency.
His administration branded UNRWA as “irredeemably flawed,” siding with Israeli criticisms of the agency founded in 1949, a year after Israel’s creation.
President Joe Biden’s administration has restored some support, but UNRWA has said it is still struggling.
In November, it warned it was facing an “existential threat” over budget gaps.
The agency has a staff of 28,000 and provides services such as education and health care to more than five million Palestinians registered in the Palestinian territories, including Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
UN Palestinian refugee agency seeks $1.6 billion
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UN Palestinian refugee agency seeks $1.6 billion
- UNRWA’s funding suffered a blow in 2018 when former US president Donald Trump cut support to the agency
Jordan condemns Israeli far-right minister Ben-Gvir’s storming of Al-Aqsa compound
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson warned of Israeli attempts to divide the compound both temporally and spatially
LONDON: Jordan condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday in East Jerusalem.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates spokesperson Fouad Majali denounced the incident as a “blatant” violation of the site’s status quo, a desecration of its sanctity, and a dangerous provocation. He stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites, according to the Petra news agency.
Ben-Gvir has visited Al-Aqsa’s compound several times in recent years, despite widespread condemnation.
Majali warned of Israeli attempts to divide the compound both temporally and spatially, saying that these “provocative and inflammatory” actions aim to impose a new reality at the site.
“Israel’s violations reflect the extremist Israeli government’s policy of escalating dangerous and unilateral measures in the occupied West Bank and of violating the sanctity of holy sites in occupied Jerusalem,” he added.
