Switzerland decides to end financial aid to UNRWA due to allegations of anti-Israel terrorism ties

The Swiss parliament’s lower house voted on Tuesday to end financial aid to the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) amid persistent allegations that the organization supports terror and incitement against the State of Israel.

Switzerland, which usually embraces a neutral position in international affairs, decided to end its annual $21 million aid to UNRWA, a unique UN body that officially assists the descendants of Arab refugees from Israel's War of Independence in 1948. Despite being a small country of barely 9 million people, Switzerland has reportedly been the ninth-largest world donor to UNRWA.

UNRWA Chief Philippe Lazzarini lamented the Swiss decision to end its financial aid and expressed hope that the government would eventually reverse its decision.

“Disheartened by Switzerland Parliament’s national council move to cut aid to @UNRWA, as the Agency is recognized as a major humanitarian actor in #Gaza & the region. Hope the Senate will revise this decision as @UNRWA is the first responder in Gaza and a lifeline for millions,” Lazzarini wrote on X.

“As a country that leads on International Humanitarian Law, I am disappointed in this decision to cut aid to the largest and most active Humanitarian Agency on the ground in #Gaza today. Cutting funds jeopardizes services during an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe,” he added.

Filippo Grandi, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, also expressed concerns about the Swiss decision to defund UNRWA.

"If UNRWA goes away and is not funded, the Palestinians that have already been so tragically penalized by history will be even more penalized," Grandi claimed.

However, Israel and international critics of UNRWA argue that the organization has been prolonging the ongoing conflict specifically by passing on the refugee status from one generation to the next.

IMPACT-se monitors education curricula around the world to determine whether the materials are compliant with UNESCO standards on peace, tolerance and non-violence. A recent study by the organization revealed that several UNRWA staff members praised Hamas for the Oct. 7 brutal terror attack against Israel.

While other UN refugee agencies have resettled millions of refugees since World War II, UNRWA has not resettled a single refugee and some believe the organization is financially motivated to maintain the current situation indefinitely. While most Gazans are formally defined as “refugees,” the vast majority were born in Gaza.

UNRWA was established in 1949 after Israel’s War of Independence and was tasked to manage Arab refugees. However, the majority of the original and genuine refugees are no longer alive and UNRWA continues to provide healthcare, schooling and aid to millions of Palestinians in Jordan, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.

Earlier in December, Germany decided to end any new financial aid for longer-term UNRWA-related projects in the Gaza Strip due to its strong ties to the Hamas terror organization and incidences of antisemitic incitement.

In April 2021, the United States, UNRWA's largest donor, decided to restore its financial aid after the controversial UN body vowed to oppose antisemitism. However, UNRWA has continued to produce propaganda against Israel.

In early December, testimonies from recently released Israeli hostages revealed that a UNRWA teacher and Gazan doctor actively held Israeli hostages during the ongoing Hamas war.

Israeli journalist Almog Boker blasted UNRWA and rejected the popular claim that the organization is not involved in terrorism against the Jewish state.

“’Uninvolved,’ they say, right? Well, read this story carefully. One of the abductees, held for nearly 50 days in an attic, reveals he was held by a UNRWA teacher – a father of ten children. This teacher locked the victim away, barely provided food, and neglected medical needs,” Boker said.

UNRWA, however, has denied reports that there is a connection between one of their teachers and an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, and demanded a retraction from Boker.