STOCKHOLM: Sweden has announced plans to stop funding to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency in response to an Israeli ban but pledged to increase its aid to Gaza via other groups.
The government said funding earmarked for Gaza would total 800 million kronor ($72 million) in 2025, but aid to UNRWA, which totaled 451 million kronor in 2024, would be stopped.
Israeli MPs have passed legislation to bar UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem while raising the prospect of similar measures against other aid agencies.
Lawmakers backed the legislation after years of harsh Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has only increased since the start of the war in Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks last year.
"Israel's two decisions in the Knesset, which Sweden has criticized, will make many of UNRWA's activities more difficult and impossible," Benjamin Dousa, minister for international development cooperation, said in a post to X.
UNRWA assists nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
"Swedish aid must reach its destination, not get stuck in a bank account along the way. Due to Israel's decision in the Knesset, we are therefore forced to pass on the aid to other organizations," Dousa said, giving the UN's World Food Programme and UN children's charity UNICEF as examples.
Dousa added that UNRWA was "also going through a crisis of confidence."
The new Israeli law does not directly ban UNRWA's operations in the West Bank and Gaza, but it will have a severe impact on UNRWA's ability to work.
Top UN officials describe UNRWA as the backbone of Gaza's aid response.
The Palestinian Embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: "We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees."
The refugee population relies on UNRWA healthcare, education, emergency relief, and humanitarian assistance.
The UN General Assembly threw its support behind UNRWA this month, demanding that Israel respect the agency's mandate and "enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction."
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said on X: "Defunding UNRWA now will undermine decades of Sweden’s investment in human development including by denying access to education for hundreds of thousands of girls and boys across the region."
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for their meeting this week and for Sweden's decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
"There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach," she said.
