Japan to resume funding for UNRWA

Tokyo: Japan will resume providing funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said today, after suspending it in January following agency staff's alleged involvement in last year's attack on Israel.

A contribution of some $35 million that had been scheduled in fiscal 2023 ended March for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, will be delivered soon, Japan's News Agency (Kyodo) quoted Kamikawa as saying. "The humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory of Gaza continues to worsen," Kamikawa said.

"It is our country's responsibility to respond to the crisis as a member of the UN Security Council." The resumption comes after Japan in late January joined the United States and others in suspending funding for the UN agency, after it was reported that a dozen UNRWA employees may have been involved in a military attack.

So far, nations such as Canada, Australia, Sweden, Finland and France have decided to resume providing their contributions to UNRWA.