Hamas calls on UNRWA to distribute food parcels to PA employees

The Refugee Affairs Department within Hamas called on Wednesday for UNRWA to distribute food parcels to Palestinian Authority employees in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Safa news agency has reported. In a media statement, the department pointed out that employees paid less than $400 are living under the official poverty line and should, therefore, get food aid.

According to Hamas, the UN agency’s 2017 appeal for funds stressed that it is responding to the humanitarian needs in the Palestinian territories. On that basis, insisted Hamas, the long-term crisis of the Palestinian employees, who are paid by the government in Gaza, “undermined their ability to afford basic services and deepened the development crisis.” As such, they too should be supported with aid.

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In addition, the movement noted that UNRWA had expected a 30 to 50 per cent cut in the number of PA employees in Gaza. This, it claimed, would impose new humanitarian responsibilities on the agency with regard to needy refugees in the territory.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the only UN body established specifically to help Palestinian refugees. Hamas said that it should create employment opportunities and micro-projects to help the unemployment situation in Gaza. It also suggested that the agency should modify its assessment of “poverty” to take into consideration individual income and expenses.