Jerusalem: Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, India on Thursday released the second tranche of 2.5 million US dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), fulfilling its annual commitment of 5 million US dollars for the year 2023-24.
UNRWA, functional since 1950, carries out direct relief and works programmes for registered Palestinian refugees.
It is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.
The Government of India had released the first tranche of its annual commitment in November, about a month ago.
The UN agency is struggling to keep up its functioning in the middle of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and had appreciated and welcomed India’s “generous contribution” last month coming at a difficult time, particularly in Gaza.
Palestinians in Gaza are bearing the brunt of the terrible conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has been ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007 since the October 7 attack by the militant organisation on Israel, prompting it to pound the territory to its southwest with continued air and ground strikes.
“UNRWA received a very generous contribution from India which is most welcome during these difficult times and in the face of huge needs across the region, particularly in Gaza,” a spokesperson for UNRWA, Tamara Alrifai, had told PTI last month in a text message from Amman.
India’s support is meant to help the agency’s core programmes and services, including education, healthcare, relief and social services provided to Palestinian refugees.
The second tranche of the contribution was handed over to UNRWA by Charge deAffaires Elizabeth Rodrigues, a press statement from the Representative Office of India in Palestine said.
New Delhi has underlined its continued support for the agency’s activities in the region and the services it provides to the Palestinian Refugees.
Earlier on November 19, India had delivered 32 tonnes of “humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine” via the El-Arish Airport in Egypt.
Since 2018, India has given USD 30 million to UNRWA.
During an Extraordinary Virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference for UNRWA held on June 23, 2020, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, announced that India will contribute USD 10 million to UNRWA over the next two years.
Since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the retaliatory action by Israel, more than two-thirds of the Gaza population of approximately 2.3 million has fled their homes to move southwards.
The UNRWA has been struggling to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in shelters.
Before the war in Gaza, UNRWA was already facing an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. The agency is mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.6 million Palestine refugees registered with it across its five fields of operation.
Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection, and microfinance among Palestinian refugees.
During the first-ever Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Palestine in February 2018, India increased its annual financial contribution four-fold to the UNRWA core budget, from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million.
India has also made a strong appeal to other traditional donors of UNRWA to consider enhancing their contributions as well as to non-donor member states to consider contributing to the agency in solidarity with the Palestine refugees.
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