The United Kingdom is releasing the equivalent of about $26.5 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency to “to support its lifesaving work in Gaza and the provision of basic services in the region,” the British foreign secretary David Lammy said on Friday.
“The Conservative government suspended funding to UNRWA. Today, the Labour government is restoring it,” Lammy wrote on social media.
He stated in a release that he was “appalled by the allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks,” the reason that the British government suspended funding for the U.N. body in January, but said he was “reassured” after an independent review found that “UNRWA is ensuring they meet the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures, including on vetting.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, a nearly 265-year-old umbrella group that represents U.K. Jews, stated that it is “vital that aid is delivered directly to those who need it,” but “we believe the resumption of such funding needs to come alongside significantly increased oversight of UNRWA’s activities.”
