Republicans in the US Congress are investigating UNRWA’s budget

according to the report of the International Group Tasnim News Agency, after allegations were made about the involvement of some UNRWA staff in the October 7 attack on Israel, Republicans in the US House of Representatives are starting an investigation into the funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) by the Biden administration.

Republicans of the House Oversight Committee announced that James Comer, the chairman of the Congressional Oversight and Accountability Committee and other Republican They want this committee to start an investigation on the decision of the Biden administration to organize and reorganize the funds allocated to UNRWA.

while the US Senate in history On February 16, he presented the package of border security plan and foreign aid worth 118.3 billion dollars, in which 60 billion dollars was given to Ukraine, 1.14 billion dollars was given to Israel, and 83.4 billion dollars was given to allies of the countries. Indo-Pacific including Taiwan and countering Chinese aggression and a bipartisan border security agreement are considered.

In this bill, 15.9 billion Dollars are allocated in the form of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine and other war-torn areas around the world.

In this help package, There is no budget for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Because the Zionist regime has falsely accused 12 of its employees of being involved in the October 7 (15 Mehr) attack by Hamas against this regime.

A Senate adviser and a source familiar with the package said In this aid package, no funds have been allocated for UNRWA because the investigation into Israel’s claim regarding the involvement of dozens of former employees of this organization in the October 7 attack on Israel is still ongoing. However, the final amount of humanitarian aid allocated to the people of Gaza has not been reduced.

Earlier, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, announced that 9 of the former employees of this organization who are facing this charge have been dismissed and 2 others have died. have lost themselves.

in At the same time, Kenneth Roth, the former director of Human Rights Watch, noted that suspending aid to UNRWA is not an appropriate response. If some employees of a police department commit a crime, someone will hold them accountable and start an investigation against them, and not disband the entire police force.

Human Rights Watch pointed out that the accusations against UNRWA staff are very dangerous and the United Nations will deal with it seriously. Food and water are urgently needed for more than 2.3 million people in Gaza, showing a callous indifference to the warnings of experts about the imminent danger of famine in the Gaza Strip.

While since the beginning of the Gaza war, UNRWA, like other international organizations, has not been able to provide an acceptable performance in helping the people of Gaza in the shadow of the brutal aggression of the Zionist regime and the heavy siege against this region. that a number of UNRWA employees participated in the operation of the Palestinian resistance under the title “Al-Aqsa Storm” on October 7, 2023.

in the circumstances that there is no evidence or witness that There is no confirmation of this claim, countries such as the United States, England, Italy and several other countries that support the crimes of the Zionist occupation in Gaza announced in a joint statement that they will stop their annual aid to UNRWA.

It is noteworthy that this action of America, Europe and the Zionist regime took place shortly after the International Court of Justice issued a verdict against this regime for its crimes in Gaza. and this issue gives rise to the hypothesis that by accusing UNRWA, Israel intends to cover up its legal and diplomatic failure in the case of South Africa’s complaint against this regime at the Hague International Court.

While the United States and a large number of its allied countries supported the false accusations of the Zionist regime against “UNRWA” and sanctioned this organization and cut off its financial budget, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced. that Israel has not yet submitted written documents about its accusations against a number of UNRWA staff.

These Republicans wrote in a letter to the Review Committee They asked US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to provide all documents and information, including documents and communications between any State Department official and White House official who were involved in this decision.

According to this letter, the latest UNRWA communication revelations with terrorist groups, led to further investigations and scrutiny and the decision by the Biden administration in April 2021 to befriend and continue to allocate funds to this entity. As a result, the committee requested documents and information related to the decision of the Biden administration to resume Fund allocation to UNRWA is in 2021.       

while the Trump administration in 2018 had cut funding to UNRWA. At that time, a spokesperson for the State Department of the Trump administration stated that the administration would carefully review the matter and announce that the United States would no longer allocate additional funding to UNRWA. The US government at the time, He called the business model and fundamental methods of this institution indefensible.

The Biden administration in April 2021, from allocating funds 235 million dollars was reported to UNRWA.

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