Switzerland to ‘thoroughly analyse’ UNRWA report before funding decision
Switzerland has not yet transferred its CHF20 million contribution to UNRWA for 2024.
Keystone
The Swiss foreign ministry has said it will “thoroughly analyse” an independent report on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip before taking any decision on the future funding of the organisation.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
An independent review of the neutrality of the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees was released on Monday.
Switzerland has not yet transferred its CHF20 million ($22 million) contribution to UNRWA earmarked for 2024, the foreign ministry confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Tuesday. The suspension – announced a few months ago following serious allegations against the UN agency – is still in force.
The foreign affairs committees of the House of Representatives and Senate would be consulted before any decision on UNRWA funding was taken, as decided by parliament last December, the Swiss ministry added. It did not specify when a decision would be made.
Suggested ‘neutrality problems’
A review of the UN organisation, which was carried out under the leadership of former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, suggested that UNRWA had political “neutrality problems”. However, experts also said that Israel had yet to provide “evidence” of possible terrorist involvement by some members of UNRWA.
The report, presented on Monday in New York, was prepared after Israel accused the UNRWA of employing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists, a dozen of whom were allegedly involved in the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kp/sb
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Foreign affairs
Why Swiss trams have become sought-after vehicles in Ukraine
Switzerland participates in ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting
This content was published on
This engagement was part of a four-day tour of Southeast Asia, aimed at advancing the Swiss Federal Council's Southeast Asia Strategy.
Majority of shareholders approve sustainability reports of major Swiss companies
This content was published on
Shareholders have approved the sustainability reports of the largest Swiss companies by a large majority at their annual general meetings.
EU releases €1.5B frozen assets to Ukraine: Switzerland opts out
This content was published on
The EU announced the release of €1.5 billion (CHF1.44 billion) in aid to Ukraine. Switzerland will not follow the EU's approach.
Five people charged in connection with deadly Swiss rockslide
This content was published on
Five people have been charged with multiple negligent homicide in connection with the deadly Bondo rockslide that occurred seven years ago.
This content was published on
Israel has accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) of being involved in the October 7 attacks. We spoke to the UNRWA head to find out more.
Switzerland should continue UNRWA funding, says Swisspeace director
This content was published on
Swisspeace Director Laurent Goetschel has urged the Swiss authorities to keep funding the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.