The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, assured this Monday that the Government of Spain “will not modify” its relationship with UNRWA, the UN agency that works with Palestine refugees, despite the investigation of the possible participation of some of its members in the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7 .

This is what he pointed out Jose Manuel Albares during his appearance this Monday at the extraordinary session of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Congress of Deputies to report on the general lines of his Department’s policy. “We will not change our relationship with UNRWAalthough we are closely monitoring the internal investigation and the results it may yield due to the actions of around a dozen people out of the 30,000 workers,” he stated.

The minister has argued that “we have tripled aid to Palestinereaching almost 50 million euros, including our support for an indispensable body such as the United Nations agency, UNRWA, to alleviate the tremendous humanitarian situation in Gaza.”

The suspension of aid

It is worth remembering that last Friday, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of UNRWA, announced that “the Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information on the alleged participation of several employees in the horrific attacks against Israel on October 7.”

“To protect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance, I have made the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and initiate an investigation to establish the truth without delay,” he added. “Any employee who has been involved in acts of terrorism must be held accountable, including through criminal proceedings,” he added.

As a result of the announcement, more than a dozen countries, including the United States,Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Austriahave suspended funding to UNRWA pending the results of the internal UN investigation.