Italy to resume funding for Unrwa

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on Saturday that Rome would resume funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), at a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa.

"Italy has decided to resume financing specific projects intended for assistance to Palestinian refugees but only after rigorous controls that guarantee that not even a penny risks ending up supporting terrorism," he said.

Tajani said he had informed Mustafa that Rome had "arranged new funding for the Palestinian population, of a total of 35 million euros ($38 million)".

"Of this, five million will be allocated to UNRWA," he said.

The remaining 30 million euros will be allocated to Italy's "Food for Gaza" initiative in coordination with UN aid agencies.

Unrwa, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since January, when Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas.

That led many nations, including top donor the United States, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver aid in Gaza, although several have since resumed payments.

An independent review of Unrwa, led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, said Israel had "yet to provide supporting evidence" for its leading allegations.

Many countries that cut their funding have since resumed it. 

Reporting by AFP