Israel's Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, in Ottawa on Jan. 26.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Israel’s ambassador to Canada says he was surprised by Ottawa’s decision on Friday to resume funding to a UN Palestinian relief agency, after Israel shared its intelligence with the federal government about UNRWA employees’ alleged involvement in the Hamas attack on his country.
Iddo Moed said Canada had asked to see Israel’s intelligence into 12 United Nations Relief and Works Agency staff who took part in the Oct. 7 Hamas assault, which left 1,200 people dead.
In an interview, on the eve of a visit by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to Israel on Sunday, he said Canada also has seen evidence that other UNRWA employees are active in Hamas. The Palestinian organization is listed as a terrorist group by Canada but it also runs the government, including the health ministry, in Gaza.
Mr. Moed said Canada is out of step with other NATO countries by deciding to resume aid, while an investigation by the UN and France into UNRWA staff involvement in the attack is continuing.
“We are surprised that Canada takes a different approach than other, top NATO countries. We did share intelligence with them,” he said in an interview. “It is very surprising that Canada actually moved to pre-empt whatever conclusion there would be and state that it is going to renew the funding, in spite of the intelligence it got and in light of the ongoing investigations.”
Mr. Moed said some relief through UNRWA was being sold, and he said Israel wanted aid to Gaza to flow instead through other aid agencies and UN agencies, whose employees do not have links to Hamas, such as the World Food Program or the Red Cross.
Canada is planning to join an international coalition to boost the flow of aid to Gaza through a humanitarian sea corridor originating from Cyprus, Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Sunday. The announcement followed a meeting between Ms. Joly and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates.
A U.S. military ship is sailing toward the Middle East with equipment to build a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to help the delivery of aid.
In the interview, Mr. Moed said Canada’s decision to be the first G7 country to resume aid to UNRWA – announced Friday by International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen – would be “an issue on the agenda” with Ms. Joly. But he said the decision was unlikely to mar Canada’s “very good relations” with Israel.
“We have disagreements as friends on issues and that would be one of them, but I wouldn’t say that that would impact the relations,” he said.
A number of countries including the United States and Britain that suspended funding to UNRWA have not said so far whether they’ll lift the freeze. Sweden, which formally joined NATO last week, has also said it will resume funding to UNRWA, and the European Commission said this month it will give €50-million to the agency.
Canada to resume funding for UN Palestinian relief agency
Ms. Joly is expected to ask Israel to help Canada provide an exit route for the relatives of Palestinian Canadians living in Gaza. Earlier this year, Immigration Minister Marc Miller launched a family-reunification program to help the relatives of Palestinian Canadians in Gaza reach safety in Canada.
Around 1,000 family members of Palestinians living in Canada have applied to leave and a list of names approved by Ottawa has been presented to Israel for vetting. So far, none have managed to depart.
Mr. Moed said the list is “still something that we’re looking at” but the priority had been to help Palestinian Canadians in Gaza to get out, which they had done more swiftly than nationals of other countries, he said.
“When it comes to family members, that’s an entirely different process, which we are trying to accommodate as much as we can. But again, these are Palestinians who are not nationals of another country,” he said. “There is no procedure for that, that needs to be set up. We are working on that.”
Mr, Moed said the names on the list were being vetted to ensure Canada’s family-reunification program does not provide an escape route for Hamas terrorists.
“We have also to be very careful about the potential escape of terrorists, certainly those who have been involved directly in the 7th of October massacre, but other Hamas terrorists that are trying to escape the scene and save themselves,” he said. “So we have to put in place a procedure that will accommodate this and this takes time.”
“We are looking for Hamas terrorists everywhere,” he added.
On Friday, Mr. Hussen announced that Canada was resuming funding to the UN Palestinian relief agency and said the UN had taken steps to “address the issues” in UNRWA. He stressed that the aid was necessary because of the “dire humanitarian situation” in Gaza.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, a number that includes both civilians and combatants, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The UN has said a quarter of the population faces starvation.
In an interview with CBC on Sunday, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae, said it was essential that Israel allow aid to flow to Gaza so Palestinians do not starve.
Canada is due to contribute $25-million to the UN agency in April. Since it announced a pause to UNRWA funding, Ottawa has not deprived the agency of funds, with the last payment of around $25-million made in December.
The ambassador said Israel is working to facilitate the flow of aid to Gaza but he accused the UNRWA of “standing in the way” of other aid agencies, which he said were “capable and able and present but do not have the access” to directly deliver aid.