A Palestinian man transports sacks of humanitarian aid in a vehicle outside the distribution center of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 3, 2024.-/Getty Images
International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen announced Friday that Canada will resume funding to a UN Palestinian relief agency providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, despite a report that some of the agency’s staff were involved in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
In January, Canada said it would pause funding after allegations emerged that some of the aid organization’s employees participated in the Oct. 7 attacks, which left 1,200 people dead and about 250 taken hostage.
Mr. Hussen said Canada intended to resume funding after the United Nations had taken steps to “address the issues” in the agency known as UNRWA. He stressed the aid was necessary because of the “dire humanitarian situation” in Gaza.
“We’re looking at a serious risk of mass starvation in parts of Gaza, particularly in the north,” Mr. Hussen said.
The government is due to contribute $25-million to the UN agency in April. So far, Ottawa has not deprived the agency of funds, with the last payment of around $25-million made in December.
A number of other countries, including Australia and Britain, also halted funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after the revelations by Israel.
Mr. Hussen said Canada is the first Group of Seven country to resume funding and had been “reassured” by an interim report of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, which looked into the participation of some UNWRA employees in the attacks. He said he thought the UN has put in place “significant processes” to address the allegations.
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Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia, said the government’s “resumption and increase of funding for UNRWA is both necessary and crucial towards helping save lives and reflects what many Canadians have been calling for.”
“Canadian Palestinians with loved ones still in Gaza remain extremely fearful for the safety and survival of their relatives amidst the ongoing bombardment and widespread hunger and starvation,” she added.
But Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs expressed dismay at the announcement to resume funding, saying it plans to challenge the decision in court.
“No Canadian taxpayer funds should go to organizations with ties to hate, terror, violence, and antisemitism,” the centre said.
“The federal government, including the Prime Minister and Minister Hussen, promised that Canada would ‘pause all additional funding to UNRWA pending the outcome of the investigation,’” it said in a statement. “The investigation has yet to be completed, and UNRWA has still not been held accountable for their employees that took part in the massacre on October 7.
“Urgent aid is needed for Palestinians, but UNRWA is not the answer – as the United States has effectively demonstrated.”
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 United Nations has said a quarter of the population faces starvation, and aid agencies say food and medical supplies are in short supply.
Mr. Hussen also announced that Canada is partnering with Jordan and the World Food Programme to conduct airdrops of food and blankets into Gaza. He said 75 tonnes of food, clothing and hygiene products would be dropped, and Canada was sending 300 cargo parachutes from the Canadian Armed Forces to help airdrop supplies.
Canada is providing $100,000 in funding to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization to buy supplies, including food, blankets and winter clothing for Gazans to be used in the Jordanian airdrops, and is allocating funding to the food program, partly for airdrops.
The United States has already been participating in air drops of food to Gaza.
Yameena Ansari, an organizer with Gaza Family Reunification Project, a group advising Palestinian-Canadians with family in Gaza, said “cutting off UNRWA funding is akin to cutting off the last lifeline left for Gazans. She said she is ”really proud” that Canada is the first G7 country to resume funding.
“I understand that the situation with Hamas is complicated – they are the ruling Gazan government and they are undeniably a hate group. But I don’t understand how cutting off food, water, and medicine to civilians is going to deter Hamas. Whereas I can certainly see how it could harm Gazan children who make up 50% of people left alive in the Strip,” the lawyer said in an e-mail.
“This government has touted themselves as having an international agenda that is humanitarian, anti-racist, and feminist – and I’m proud to see them walking the walk – not just talking the talk.”