It had also allocated 125 million euro (£107 million) of humanitarian aid for Palestinians this year and contracted the first 16 million euro (£14 million) of this package on Friday. The commission had originally been due to give 82 million euro to UNRWA on Thursday but wanted the agency to accept its terms for an audit. Ireland, which provided 20 million euro (£17 million) in core funding to UNRWA last month, had repeatedly called for other states to continue financially supporting the agency. Irish premier Leo Varadkar said increasing funding to Gaza was “the right thing to do”. “The international community needs to step up now to support UNRWA, so it can fulfil its vital and life-saving mandate.”

Source: The Herald March 01, 2024 18:00 UTC