Funding for the United Nations agency providing relief to Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has emerged as a serious hurdle as parliamentary negotiators scramble to prevent a partial government shutdown next weekend.
Republicans are pushing to block further funding to UNRWA following allegations that dozens of its staff took part in a Hamas attack on Israel last October.
Democrats acknowledge the gravity of the revelations, but are quick to point out that the number of alleged criminals is tiny compared to UNRWA’s more than 30,000 employees. They warned that completely eliminating funding for the agency would leave a vacuum in the provision of food, medical care and other humanitarian aid, which no aid group or world government can currently fill. are doing.
US funds UNRWA through your account Congress last week passed the first of six full-year funding bills for fiscal year 2024, but lawmakers have warned that the second round will bring even more funding. Difficult to find consensus.
The fate of UNRWA is one of the key junctures. And Democrats are asking for help.
“We’ve talked to all the NGOs,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “Save the Children, World Food Programme, Oxfam…Compassion Corps”.
“I’ve talked to all of them, and their view is that there may be something we can do in the future,” DeLauro said Wednesday. “But at this moment, UNRWA is essential to getting the large amount of aid we need.”
Rep. Greg Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a similar warning.
“The truth is, there is no one to replace UNRWA – not even for humanitarian aid or food.” [into Gaza],” he said. “You can’t say, ‘Let’s forget about them and move on to someone else,’ because there’s no one else.”
The Democratic Party’s push to fund UNRWA has put it at odds with Republicans, who have drawn a hard line against it.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Hill on Thursday that this issue is not the beginning.
“Funding can also be provided through other agencies,” she said. “We are not going to support UNRWA.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate subcommittee that oversees funding for UNRWA, agreed: “There will be no funding for UNRWA.” He also ruled out any deal that does not omit funding.
“If I don’t do that, I don’t think I’ll get the bill,” he said.
UNRWA was created in 1949 to deal with the refugee crisis that arose from the conflict over the creation of the state of Israel a year earlier. The agency operates in a handful of areas across the Middle East, including the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has served as the de facto governing body for nearly two decades. The group’s work has been a vital lifeline during the war between Israel and Hamas, which has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, about 1 percent of the population, and displaced about 2 million others.
Critics of UNRWA have frequently accused Hamas of infiltrating the agency and turning it into a front group that, like Hamas, opposes the very existence of Israel. And that voice found new ammunition in January. When Israel denounced Twelve UNRWA personnel took part in the October 7 Hamas attack, which killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped another 250.
In response, Senate negotiators on a $95 billion foreign aid package, anchored by military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and humanitarian aid to Gaza, ruled out any funding for UNRWA. The bill passed the Senate, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has vowed to make changes to the bill and send it back to the Senate. These changes are expected to relate to aid to Ukraine, with conservatives pushing for the exclusion of UNRWA, which is almost certain to remain.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) recently told reporters, “Many of us would be more comfortable if we could finance some of the United Nations organizations that are attacking Israel.” Deaf,” he said.
Democrats hope to fund UNRWA through another legislative vehicle, a “minibus” spending bill expected to be debated next week.that package, It may be released as early as this weekend, The plan features funding for a number of key agencies that Democrats hope will provide aid to the Palestinians, including the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of State. If Congress does not act, a partial government shutdown will occur at the end of March 22nd.
Democrats have indicated they are open to new terms on UNRWA funding, while calling for further investigation into Israel’s claims of ties to Hamas. But they also fear that humanitarian aid to Gaza will collapse if the Gaza Institution collapses.
“We will continue to support UNRWA in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, with or without conditions on aid. [and] Either protect the West Bank from Gaza or completely ban aid to UNRWA,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware), chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Overseas Operations, said Thursday. he told reporters.
“We recognize that the UNRWA Gaza investigation is ongoing, but we urge you to separate it from Jordan’s funding of UNRWA,” Coons said. “For example, in Jordan, 2.5 million Palestinians in 10 refugee camps receive health care, education, and waste removal, essentially operating as a municipality.”
The Democratic Party points out that tragic episode Late last month, riots broke out around a convoy of aid trucks operated by private contractors supervised by the Israeli military that were delivering aid to northern Gaza. Gaza health officials said more than 100 people were killed and more than 280 injured in the resulting chaos, with many of the casualties attributed to Israeli gunfire.
In the eyes of many Democrats, these deaths could have been avoided if more experienced UNRWA officials had directed the delivery process.
Congressman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said, “Perhaps this means that UNRWA needs to provide essential humanitarian assistance, given all the needs for accountability and reform for the small number of people who took part in the October 7th attacks.” “It will help explain that it is a resource.” “They can actually get through this mess in a way that others cannot. So if we are to value humanitarian needs, we must put UNRWA funding back on the table.”
Underscoring the sensitivity of the UNRWA debate, even Israeli military officials reportedly on guard Publicly airs accusations of Hamas involvement against 12 agency officials, fearing the relief group’s collapse will exacerbate an already huge humanitarian crisis and impose a new huge responsibility on Israel that it is ill equipped to handle That’s what I did.
In the spending fight, Democrats want to find a way to weed out bad actors within UNRWA while also empowering the broader agency to continue its humanitarian mission for the Palestinian people.
“In addition to calling for reform and accountability to address some of the bad apples that were part of the October 7 incident, it is truly wrong to ban funding to UNRWA completely,” Huffman said. ” “There are 30,000 UNRWA personnel in Gaza.
“It gets buried under some political rhetoric.”
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