EU and UK officials have sung the praise of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after reports said Israeli hostages were (and, if so, why not are) held in one of its refugee camps—raising the question: how close an association to Hamas is too close?
This claim—that at least three hostages “were hidden for part of the time in U.N. shelters”—emerged on Tuesday, just days after their release in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
On Wednesday, critics of UNRWA said this proved that the scandal-ridden U.N. agency was not just a “supporter” of Hamas, but a “front” for the terrorist organisation.
Then on Thursday, James Kariuki, the UK deputy permanent representative to the U.N., appeared to ignore these, and other past controversial events, and instead hailed the “crucial role” played by UNRWA, adding that
we must ensure its delivery of essential services such as education and healthcare can continue until such time as a Palestinian state can take over these functions.
Criticising Britain’s continued funding of the agency, the Campaign Against Antisemitism told europeanconservative.com that revelations like this one “suggest that UNRWA has become an enabler or even a dangerous front for Hamas, a proscribed antisemitic genocidal terror group.” It also posed this important question to the Foreign Office:
What assurances do we have that UK taxpayer money did not fund the captivity and immiseration of these hostages?
At the time of publishing, the government department had not fulfilled our request for comment.
Also on Thursday, EU commissioner Dubravka Šuica met with UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini and again praised the agency’s “essential role to provide aid and basic services to people in need, education for kids and medical care.”
Lazzarini later celebrated that they had “committed to the longstanding, strong partnership between UNRWA and the EU.”
UNRWA representatives have still not responded to our request for comment yesterday on the reports that hostages were held captive in one of its camps in Gaza.
