from thefreeonline on 2nd June 2024 .. by Al Jazeera +Agencies/Opinion
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In a stunning display of hypocrisy the far right regime still refuses UN aid contributions as Gaza residents are slaughtered by Israeli genocide
Worse Than You Can Imagine | West plotted with Israel to Starve 2.3m in Gaza! – Craig Murray
An investigation led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna concluded last month that Israel had not provided evidence to support its allegations of UNRWA involvement in the assault.
Despite the concerns raised within the upper levels of the Dutch government, the Netherlands has yet to resume funding to the UNRWA five months after announcing a pause in response to Israeli claims that some agency staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel.
By John Power
In a memo written after the Netherlands joined more than a dozen countries in pausing funding to UNRWA following Israeli claims of links to Hamas, foreign ministry officials stressed the need for the UN agency to continue its work.
The UN agency last week announced it would have to suspend food distribution in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where Israel’s military is conducting a ground offensive and air strikes, due to a lack of supplies and security risks.
Ongoing famine in the Gaza Strip
“In a stunning display of hypocrisy the far right regime still refuses UN aid contributions as Gaza residents are slaughtered by Israeli genocide. The refusal continues despite most other countries resuming aid because Israel gave zero proof that any UNRWA staff aided the local Hamas government attack.
“The Israeli allegations were suspiciously followed by an instant worldwide media campaign, with the US cancelling UN aid to Gaza within 24 hours and pressuring its allies to instantly follow suit although no proof was ever offered..
“And in any case Gazans have the right (as recognised in Ukraine) to resist an armed military occupation under International Law.
“The result was a spectacle of millions of starving people blockaded by Israel for 17 years and being massacred daily while the West cut off aid agreed by the UN because Israel had herded millions into a tiny area, blockaded them and cut off supplies and services, etc.
‘Scandal’: Israeli Dossier ‘Provides No Evidence’ for Claims Against …commondreams.org
Recently the Netherlands government has veered to the right and supports almost every US sponsored crime including open NATO warmongering now threatening world nuclear annihalation, as well as still denying supply of its share of Gaza aid along with the USA.
The Netherlands still ignores the memo to resume aid
Al Jazeera obtained the memo, which has not been published previously, via a freedom of information request with the Dutch foreign ministry.
“Humanitarian assistance and basic services provided by UNRWA to Gaza and the wider region must be maintained at this stage of the conflict. Other organisations are not adequately equipped for this purpose, including logistical capacities. Further regional destabilisation due to loss of UNRWA capacities must be prevented,” officials in the ministry’s human rights department wrote in the memo to Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot on February 2.
UNRWA staff accused by Israel sacked without evidence, chief admits …
Bruins Slot, a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Appeal party, expressed agreement with her colleagues in a hand-written note.
“Agreed! Touches whole region that is already unstable,” she wrote on the memo.
“Too long a delay or suspension of already committed support could lead to serious disruptions in UNWRA’s operational capacities resulting in considerably great human suffering,” the memo continued, to which Bruins Slot added a hand-written note expressing her agreement.
“In addition, high humanitarian needs could lead to social disruption and regional escalation, which also poses a risk to Israel’s security. It is also politically relevant to take into account the ruling of the International Court of Justice on adequate humanitarian aid.”
At least half of the 16 countries that suspended funding in response to Israel’s claims, including Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden, have since reinstated their support.
“We consider UNRWA again as an aid channel. So we see them again as legitimate partner to work with,” Bruins Slot said in remarks to parliament. “This government has not made any more money available at this time to give more to UNRWA. I hope that there will still be room to do that in the next cabinet.”
‘No evidence’ for Israeli UNRWA claims in six-page dossiernewarab.com Report says Israel has not provided evidence of widespread militancy …washingtonpost.com
OIOS repeated there is no evidence, saying in an update to its investigation last month that it was probing 14 UNRWA staff members over their alleged links to the October 7 attacks, after dropping inquires into five others due to lack of evidence.
Established in 1949, the UNRWA employs about 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria to provide essential services including food, education and healthcare.
The UN agency last week announced it would have to suspend food distribution in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where Israel’s military is conducting a ground offensive and air strikes, due to a lack of supplies and security risks.
Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies .. see original HERE Netherlands feared ‘great human suffering’ after UNRWA funding pause:
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