Palestine thanks India for second $2.5 million UNRWA contribution

India has pledged it will continue to provide aid for the Palestinian refugees and has released a second tranche of 2.5 million dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees.

This contribution meets the promised 5 million dollars for the financial year 2024-2025, the representative office of India to Palestine said on Monday. The Palestinian embassy expressed gratitude for India’s support and noted the importance of it due to continuing pressures on UNRWA in its attempts to ban its mission by Israel.

In a press note, chargé d’affaires of the Palestine Embassy in India Dr Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer noted that India’s financial support of UNRWA continued to testify its continued support to the organization which was established in 1949 to provide basic needs to the Palestinian refugees.

He added that this contribution is a response to Israel’s efforts aimed at dismantling UNRWA and limiting its activities in the Palestinian territories.

Israel’s move to ban UNRWA

On October 27, the Israeli Parliament, Knesset, passed a law that prohibits UNRWA operations within its territory, accusing its workers of involving in the October 7 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1200 people in Israel and resulted in over 250 hostages.

“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” read a statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The Israeli Knesset also approved two laws that not only ban any interaction with UNRWA but also list the agency as a terrorist organization, thus denying millions of Palestinians dependent on the agency essentials like education, healthcare and food to their most basic needs. These changes have prompted the organisation to question the potential humanitarian crisis that could ensue if UNRWA is forced to cease operations.

India’s contribution

India’s contributions are quite significant especially when viewed against the backdrop of several Western countries that have refused their funding to UNRWA over claims of “sympathetic connections” between some of the agency’s employees and Hamas.

On the other side, many countries have continued to renew their contributions while the United States is one of the largest contributors whose funds are still frozen. India’s continued support of the UNRWA also reflects its policy of humanitarian stance and at the same time acts as a strategic player in defending the Palestinian’s rights internationally.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday congratulated the government and the people of the State of Palestine on their Declaration of Independence Day. He affirmed that India is determined to continue developmental cooperation and friendship with Palestine.

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“Warm felicitation to the Government and people of the State of Palestine on their Declaration of Independence Day. Committed to deepening our developmental partnership and long-standing friendship”, Jaishankar wrote in a post on X.

Warm felicitation to the Government and people of State of Palestine on their Declaration of Independence Day.

Committed to deepening our developmental partnership and long-standing friendship.
@pmofa pic.twitter.com/iubBj7mHZm

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) November 15, 2024

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