Michigan - The American Center for Justice (ACJ) said that the announcement by 12 countries to stop funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) would double the impact of the stifling humanitarian crisis the Palestinians are suffering from, especially in the Gaza Strip, due to the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip for more than 3 months and the interruption of most basic needs.

During the past few days, the United States, Canada, Australia, Italy, Britain, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Romania, Austria and Japan announced the suspension of funds allocated to the United Nations Relief Agency, under the pretext of the participation of 12 UNRWA staff in the armed attack carried out by a number of Palestinian factions on October 7, according to the claims of the Israeli government.

The ACJ points out that although these countries demanded an investigation into the Israeli allegations at the beginning, they quickly took a position and suspended the funding they allocated to UNRWA before the investigation was conducted and before the results proving the validity of these allegations were issued.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) confirms its rejection and condemnation of the announcement by a number of countries to stop funding the UN agency, which provides services to about 90% of the population of the besieged Strip, which is suffering from a stifling hunger crisis as a result of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. It is worth noting that this Israeli war led to the displacement of about 1,800,000 out of 2 million Palestinians from their homes under inhumane health and environmental conditions. 

The Center also stresses that instead of the international community taking a moral and humanitarian stance towards the crimes of genocide, forced displacement and war crimes, it is lining up with the Israeli narrative even before conducting an investigation into it.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had warned that stopping funding would result in the organization being unable to “continue its services in the region - including Gaza - after the end of next month.” Meanwhile, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, expressed his regret "at taking decisions to suspend funding, in light of the current humanitarian crisis that the Palestinians are suffering from in Gaza and its repercussions on the regularity of the agency's tasks during the coming period.

The American Center for Justice (ACJ) holds the countries that suspended their UNRWA funding morally and legally responsible for their pro-Israel stance at the expense of the suffering of more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in light of preventing the entry of humanitarian aid in its natural form and targeting relief, medical and humanitarian crews. The ACJ also stressed the need for these countries to recondider their positions and work to stop the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip instead of deepening the crisis that its residents are suffering from.