Sweden will no longer fund UNRWA aid agency, minister says

Sweden will no longer fund the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country's aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish broadcaster TV4.

Israel, which will ban UNRWA's operations in the country from late January, has repeatedly accused the agency of being involved in the Hamas' October 7 attack last year.

Sweden's decision to end funding for UNRWA was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channelling aid to the Palestinians via the agency more difficult, Dousa said.

Sweden plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year, he added.

"There are several other organisations in Gaza, I have just been there and met several of them," the minister said, naming the UN World Food Programme as one potential recipient.

The United Nations General Assembly threw its support behind UNRWA this month, demanding that Israel respect the agency's mandate and "enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction".

Agency continues to be targeted by Israel

Since the onset of Israel's war in Gaza last year, UNRWA has become a crucial lifeline for displaced and at-risk Palestinians suffering from severe malnutrition and forced displacement due to the Israeli blockade.

However, the UN agency's humanitarian work in the enclave has been hindered since January 2024, when Israel accused 12 of its employees in Gaza of being involved in the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

At least 16 countries, including the US, paused or suspended funding to the agency, and its aid work for Gaza’s famine-stricken population has suffered.

Earlier this year, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called for a comprehensive review of the agency to determine the facts and "what is politically motivated" and later said that "Our humanitarian operation, on which 2 million people depend as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing."

For years, critics have argued that the Israel lobby has worked to shut down UNRWA, the only UN agency with a specific mandate to address the basic needs of Palestinian refugees.

Most of the key donors resumed aid after an independent review of UNRWA found that Israel had not provided any evidence to back its claims.

UNRWA is currently managing emergency shelters across Gaza's southern and central regions, housing hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons affected by the Israel's ongoing violence.