No evidence from Israel to back UNRWA accusations, says EU humanitarian chief

The European Union’s top humanitarian aid official has said he has seen no evidence from Israel to back its accusations against staff from the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), which should continue playing a “critical” role in Gaza, Reuters reports.

Janez Lenarcic, the head of humanitarian aid and crisis management at the European Commission, said that neither he nor — according to his knowledge — anybody else at the EU executive, or any other UNRWA donor had been presented with evidence by Israel.

“Even if those allegations, at the end of the day, prove to be true, that doesn’t mean that UNRWA is the perpetrator,” he told journalists.

In that case, Lenarcic said individual accountability would be in order rather than summary justice — and the “irreplaceable” agency would be asked to clean up and carry on.

“UNRWA has reacted properly, immediately, effectively. It took several measures. There is an investigation. There is a review. We are satisfied so far with all this,” said Lenarcic.

“UNRWA has of course a critical role to play here because it has unmatched infrastructure, warehouses, shelters, logistical capacities.”

DAWN

WATCH: FO condemns Israeli attack on UNWRA food distribution centre

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Former Israeli presidential adviser says US ‘enabling the damage and then trying to cover up’

Former Israeli presidential adviser, Daniel Levy, says US plans to build a seaport in Gaza to transport aid is a ‘pathetic addition to the existing pathetic policy of the administration’. In an interview Shelagh Fogarty on LBC, he emphasised the ridiculous behaviour of the US, in supplying Israel with the arms and weaponry that’s causing the death and destruction in Gaza and then seeking to build a seaport for aid that could enter through land crossings that Israel is deliberately blocking, with US support. Levy said there have been reports in US media that the Biden administration is ‘deliberately avoiding transparency and accountability’ in its provision of weapons to Israel, dividing weaponry into different channels so they would avoid going through Congress.


March 14, 2024