Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister plans to press Trudeau on UNRWA funding

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Ireland’s Tánaiste, the equivalent of its Deputy Prime Minister, says he plans to discuss the need for sustainable funding of the controversial United Nations aid agency in Gaza when he meets with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week.

Micheal Martin, a long-time Irish politician who is also Ireland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, is on an official tour of Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto to promote the island country’s growing economic ties with Canada and to highlight its international diplomacy to bring about a ceasefire to the Israel-Hamas war.

When he meets the Prime Minister in Toronto on Friday, Mr. Martin said, he will underscore the vital services the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is providing during the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He said he will also note the need for reforming the agency and cementing its long-term funding.

“All the human-rights agencies and all of the UN agencies tell us you cannot distribute aid in any quantities or get services up and running again, like schools or health facilities, without UNRWA – everybody privately says that,” Mr. Martin said during an interview in Vancouver on Wednesday.

He added that he understood the recent decision of many Western powers to pause and review UNRWA’s funding after the revelation that 13 of its employees allegedly took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault, which left 1,200 people dead. Mr. Martin said his government supported the firing of these employees and is awaiting the twin investigations into their alleged actions by the UN and France.

But, he said, Ireland was one of the first countries to affirm its commitment to the agency when these revelations surfaced this year, announcing it would continue its $20-million commitment and expects to eventually give more money to fund the eventual reconstruction of Gaza.

“I wanted to send a signal to my own colleagues, in Europe in particular, borne out of an absolute conviction from what I’m told by anybody on the ground: You can’t deal with the humanitarian crisis if you don’t support UNRWA,” said Mr. Martin, who visited Israel, the West Bank and Egypt in November.

He said he appreciated Canada announcing last week it would resume its aid to the agency, a move that Israel’s ambassador to Canada called “very surprising.” Iddo Moed said some relief through UNRWA was being sold, and he said Israel wanted aid to Gaza to flow instead through other aid organizations and UN agencies whose employees do not have links to Hamas, such as the World Food Program or the Red Cross.

Neither Global Affairs Canada nor the Israeli embassy in Ottawa immediately responded to requests for comment on Mr. Martin’s views.

Michael Byers, a professor at the University of British Columbia and Canada Research Chair in global politics and international law, said since other countries have suspended or cut funding to UNRWA, it seems reasonable for those still committed to supporting it – such as Ireland and Canada – to commit to fill this new funding gap by contributing more funding considering “the needs in Gaza have gone up … not down.”

He added that two factors animating Ireland’s support for Palestinians are the “deep cultural memory” of starvation from the potato famine of the 1800s, as well as the armed revolution that led to its independence from British colonial rule.

Prof. Byers said he doubts Ireland has much sway over Canada’s foreign policy in the region, but Ireland may be having some influence on U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been vocal about the pride he has in his Irish heritage. On the global stage, a small nation like Ireland has the potential to play a larger role in this conflict, citing Norway nearly brokering a lasting peace between the two Middle East parties in the 1990s, he said.

Mr. Martin said Ireland views the abduction of any person as a “horrendous crime” and is calling on Hamas to lay down its weapons and release its Israeli hostages.

One area where Ireland and Canada are directly aligned, Mr. Martin said, is on the need for Israel to avoid a “catastrophic” offensive on the southernmost city of Rafah, where roughly 1.4 million people have marshalled along with various humanitarian agencies after Israeli bombing of other parts of the region.

“What’s happening in Ireland is: Most people are appalled at what we see on TV screens, children being killed, knowing children are dying from starvation and hunger – it is shocking from a human perspective that it is allowed to continue.”