Palestine regrets Sweden's decision to halt funding for UN Palestine agency

Palestine expressed regret Saturday about Sweden’s decision to halt funding for the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Anadolu Agency reports.

“It is a regrettable decision by Sweden. We do not accept any country cutting its ties and funding with UNRWA. We have conveyed a message to Sweden that UNRWA is irreplaceable,” Omar Awadallah, assistant minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, said in an interview with the official Palestinian radio station, Voice of Palestine.

Awadallah noted that Sweden “has previously played an important role in supporting UNRWA.”

He added: “It is unacceptable to replace UNRWA or undermine its work in any way … We will pursue this issue with Sweden and other countries that may consider taking such actions.”

Sweden’s Minister for Aid, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish TV4 on Friday that the decision to stop funding UNRWA was due to the Israeli ban on the UN agency, which would make directing aid to Palestinians through it more difficult.

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Israel’s parliament moved to ban UNRWA activities in the occupied Palestinian territories on Oct. 28, accusing agency employees of complicity in last year’s Hamas attack.

UNRWA denied the allegations, reaffirming its neutrality and exclusive focus on refugee aid. It noted that no other organization could effectively fulfill its role.

More than 45,200 victims have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began an onslaught against the enclave following an attack by the Palestine resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 20023. Mostly women and children have been killed, and more than 107,500 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

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