Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country's aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish broadcaster TV4 on Friday.
Sweden plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year © Mena Today
Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country's aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish broadcaster TV4 on Friday.
Israel, which will ban UNRWA's operations in the country from late January, has repeatedly accused the agency of being involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
Sweden's decision to end funding for UNRWA was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channelling aid to the Palestinians via the agency more difficult, Dousa said.
Sweden plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year, he added.
"There are several other organisations in Gaza, I have just been there and met several of them," the minister said, naming the U.N. World Food Programme as one potential recipient.
The United Nations General Assembly threw its support behind UNRWA this month, demanding that Israel respect the agency's mandate and "enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction".
($1 = 11.0323 Swedish crowns)
Reporting by Terje Solsvik
The United Nations Security Council on Friday extended a long-running peacekeeping mission between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights for six months and expressed concern that military activities in the area could escalate tensions.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called for the eradication of terrorist groups operating in Syria, specifically naming the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK
With a month left in the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden has a long list of foreign and domestic policy actions he hopes to get done before president-elect Donald Trump assumes office, where the Republican is expected to try to reverse much of Biden's record.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.