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UNRWA: Financial Crisis May Affect Employee Salaries, Operational Projects

Palestinian employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). (Reuters)
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UNRWA: Financial Crisis May Affect Employee Salaries, Operational Projects

Palestinian employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). (Reuters)

Media Advisor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza Adnan Abu Hasna has warned against the effect of the financial shortfall on the agency’s operations.

Abu Hasna said that the agency’s financial crisis may impact its operational projects and employee salaries in November and December if it fails to mobilize the necessary fund during the UNRWA Pledging conference, which will be held on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly on September 22.

He told reporters on Saturday that the Arab financial support to the UN agency reached $200 million in 2018.

“In 2021, the Arab financial aid to the agency declined to $20 million,” he noted, adding that the financial support in 2022 will be much less than the expected.

He voiced concern over repeating 2021’s scenario, especially in light of the financial deficit and the decline in support provided by Arab states.

Political changes in the region greatly affect the support provided to UNRWA, Abu Hasna affirmed, noting that donors are currently focusing on the Ukrainian crisis, in addition to the hike in prices of raw materials and the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis.

He expressed hope that the agency would be able to mobilize the required and enough financial support that would cover its financial deficit, which amounted to $100 million.

According to UNRWA, this deficit is exacerbating in the Gaza Strip, in light of the siege, the consequences of the political division, and the continuous wars, which raise unemployment rates.

The agency spends about 38% of its budget in the enclave, especially that the refugees there constitute about 20% of the population.

The UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that the financial challenges could lead to the slow erosion of the quality of the agency’s services or to their interruption.

The agency has recently stated that it is facing the most threatening financial situation of its recent history.

“This financial crisis happens amidst global attention shifting elsewhere, and general fatigue from what is seen by some as an irritatingly long and unresolved conflict.”

UNRWA has been suffering financially for several years. The United States halted its support for the agency under former President Donald Trump before the current administration signed a framework agreement with it to restore US assistance programs.

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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Israel Demolishes Seven Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex (top L) across from the Arab town of Silwan on the hill with its al-Bustan neighborhood (C) in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing".

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

"They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son's house, Haitham Ayed's family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family," Abu Diab told AFP.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighborhood, leaving them homeless".

An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighborhood under tight Israeli police supervision.

In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.

However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.

"The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighborhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning," the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.

Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was "to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favor of (Israeli) settlers", connecting them to west Jerusalem.

Israel "is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections", he said.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighborhoods within east Jerusalem's boundaries, according to Israeli rights organization Peace Now.