Britain expected to restore UNRWA funding within days as pro-Gaza MPs lobby for action

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The UK is set to reinstate its funding for the refugee agency in Gaza after halting it following Israeli allegations of staff supporting Hamas during the attacks on October 7, The National can disclose.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy is to make a decision this week on restoring the UK’s estimated £35 million ($45 million) to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees and main provider of aid in Gaza.

Whitehall sources said the decision is set to be “a positive one”, after Mr Lammy was fully briefed by the Foreign Office about the situation on Tuesday.

It is understood that parliamentary time will be made available to him to make an announcement on the funding in the House of Commons, possibly early next week.

Meanwhile, five independent MPs who stood on a pro-Gaza platform have written to Mr Lammy urging him to restore funding to UNRWA, end arms sales to Israel and drop legal action against the International Criminal Court over an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In their letter to Mr Lammy, the independent MPs Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed, Adnan Hussain, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Shockat Adam, who defeated shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth, also called for sanctions against individuals and entities inciting genocide against Palestinians as well as recognising the state of Palestine with immediate effect.

Mr Lammy, who made his first trip as Foreign Secretary to Israel and Palestine on Sunday, has yet to spend a full day in the Foreign Office since Labour won the general election more than a week ago to address a number of issues.

The Whitehall source indicated that Mr Lammy was “still making up his mind” on a number of matters and did not want to “rush” into any decision.

“But there will be an announcement on reinstating the funding in the next week or so and a fair analysis of that is that it will be a positive one,” the source said.

Funding halt

Britain, the US and many other countries stopped financing UNRWA in January after an investigation was launched following Israeli accusations that some of its staff had taken part in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7.

The outcome of an investigation, which led to some staff being sacked, was enough for nearly all countries except the US and UK to resume funding.

The UK had paid its planned contributions for the financial year 2023-24 before the suspension, but the previous Conservative government had not allocated funding for the new financial year that started in April.

Immediate ceasefire call

Mr Lammy met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa on Sunday.

“Our message is clear: we need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, the protection of civilians, unfettered access to aid in Gaza, and a pathway towards a two-state solution,” he later wrote on X.

In response to The National’s request for a statement, the Foreign Office gave a quote Mr Lammy made during a pooled TV interview during his trip to the Middle East in which he outlined a new aid package.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is appalling, with far too many people facing starvation and a lack of trucks still getting in after months and months of asking,” he said.

“I’m announcing today £5.5 million worth of new aid to set up medical field sites in Gaza and relieve suffering.”

He added that he would make “an appropriate statement on UNRWA and funding” to the UK Parliament in the coming days.

Since October, Britain has committed more than £100 million in aid to the occupied Palestinian territories, with £35 million given before funding was suspended in January.

No aid is given to Hamas, which the UK has designated a terrorist organisation.

There was international anger when Israel claimed that about 12 per cent of the UNWRA's staff in Gaza, about 1,400 people, were either members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and a number were sacked on the spot.

An independent review recommended that the organisation improve its screening of staff but it has been accepted that would be impossible.

The agency, which mostly comprises Palestinians, is vital for maintaining basic services and education in Gaza.

‘Closely considering’

Barbara Woodward, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN, disclosed to UNRWA’s Pledging Conference on Friday that the UK was “closely considering” the restoration of financial aid.

“Palestinians in Gaza are facing a humanitarian catastrophe and the very real risk of famine,” she said. “For months they have suffered unbearable hardship without the food and protection from harm that they need.”

Britain recognises UNRWA was “absolutely central to these efforts” in getting aid into Gaza.

But a number of Conservatives, including the hardline leadership contender Suella Braverman, have been publicly opposed to the resumption of funds to UNRWA.