Lula announces donation to UN agency accused of links to Hamas

Speaking during an extraordinary session of the Council of Representatives of the League of Arab States, in Cairo (Egypt), President Lula (PT), announced a “new contribution of resources” to the United Nations Agency for Assistance to Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). The agency has been accused by Israel of collaborating with Hamas terrorists.

“At a time when the Palestinian people need support most, rich countries have decided to cut humanitarian aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The recent allegations against agency employees need to be properly investigated, but they cannot paralyze it. We need to put an end to this inhumanity and cowardice, enough with collective punishments […] My government will make a new contribution of resources to UNRWA and we urge all countries to reinforce their contributions”, said Lula this Thursday (15).

At the end of January 2024, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz canceled a meeting with UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini and called for his resignation for supporting terrorism, due to the alleged involvement of 13 of his employees in the October 7th attack.

According to partial Israeli intelligence documents delivered to the United States, and revealed by The New York Times, one of the agency’s workers kidnapped a woman and another helped take the body of a soldier during the October 7 attacks.

A third employee of the agency would have participated in the Kibbutz Beeri massacre, where 97 people were murdered.

Furthermore, according to images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hamas terrorists maintained a tunnel beneath the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza, as well as using a space as an electrical supply room and data center for intelligence and communication.

Following the release of Israel’s allegations, several countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Japan, temporarily froze their contributions to UNRWA.

The agency has already terminated the contracts of all those involved and opened an investigation, as announced by this United Nations body.

Last week, when he was honored at a dinner at the Palestinian Embassy in Brasília, Lula promised that he would make an “additional contribution of resources” to UNRWA.

The amount that will be transferred to the agency by the Brazilian government has not yet been disclosed.