LONDON: Spain on Monday confirmed that it will not halt its funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Many countries including Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK, followed the footsteps of the US in suspending aid to the agency.
The suspension came in response to allegations made by Israel that several UNRWA workers were involved in the Hamas attack on October 7.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Madrid would maintain its ties with UNRWA and continue its funding without any modification.
He said Spain is closely following up on the internal investigation launched by the UN.
Albares added that UNRWA is an indispensable agency in mitigating the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
He expressed his deep sorrow over the killing of more than 26,000 people, while pointing to the scale of famine in Gaza.
Albares added that Spain has tripled its humanitarian assistance to Palestine, totaling nearly $54 million since the start of Israel’s escalation of the war on Gaza.
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, said the decision to halt funding defies the International Court of Justice’s order to provide effective aid in Gaza and could be an open violation of the international genocide convention.
Earlier, the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) had warned that it would not be able to carry out operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February if funding were not resumed.
