By Andrew MacAskill
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s new Labour government said on Friday it would resume funding to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA in the first major change in how it will approach the Israel-Palestinian conflict after winning power earlier this month.
Britain was one of several countries to halt their funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following accusations by Israel that some agency staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
British foreign minister David Lammy told parliament he was reassured that the agency, which provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians, had taken steps to ensure it has the “highest standards of neutrality”, including improving vetting.
Lammy said the UNRWA is the backbone of aid operations in Gaza helping feed about half of the territory’s population, and the government would provide 21 million pounds ($27 million) in new funding to the agency.
Malnutrition in Gaza was now so severe that mothers could not produce breast milk for their children and the rates of diarrhoea were 40 times their normal rates and polio had been detected, Lammy said.
“Humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe, and it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground,” he said. “UNRWA is absolutely central to these efforts. No other agency can deliver aid at the scale needed.”
The government’s change in policy comes after Labour’s commanding election victory was dented by the loss of five seats to pro-Palestinian independent candidates.
Labour faced criticism after initially appearing to condone Israel’s tactics in Gaza, including cutting off water and power, and only gradually shifting the party’s position towards supporting an immediate ceasefire.
Israel has accused UNRWA of complicity with Hamas, saying the militant Islamist group was embedded within the U.N. agency’s infrastructure.
A review, led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, published in April said Israel had not provided evidence for its accusations that hundreds of staff are members of militant groups.
Other countries including Japan, Germany, Italy, Australia and Canada have resumed funding to the agency.
In February, Britain’s then-foreign minister David Cameron said he wanted an “absolute guarantee” that UNRWA would not employ staff who were willing to attack Israel.
Cameron was replaced by Lammy as foreign minister following the Labour Party’s July 4 landslide election win.
Asked if Britain would proceed with efforts to question whether the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Lammy said the government was taking legal advice and still deciding its position.
($1 = 0.7751 pounds)
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Kate Holton, Elizabeth Piper and Angus MacSwan)
