Middle East Monitor / January 29, 2025
Switzerland has come under fire for suspending funding to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, as uncertainty looms over its financial commitments for 2025 and an Israeli ban threatens the Agency’s operations, Anadolu News Agency reports.
Swiss-American political analyst, Daniel Warner, has called on Bern to be “helpful” during this critical time, with the Israeli ban set to take effect Thursday, further complicating the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
In September, Switzerland’s House of Representatives voted 99-88 to halt contributions to UNRWA after a motion by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, citing concerns over alleged links between the Agency and Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas. While payments later resumed, the funding for 2024 was slashed in half, from 20 million Swiss francs ($23 million) to 10 million.
It is still undecided whether Switzerland will contribute to the UN Agency’s funding in 2025, with the final decision now in the hands of the country’s Senate.
Amid the political uncertainty, Warner, in an interview with Anadolu, emphasized the importance of continuing support for UNRWA, both for humanitarian reasons and due to Switzerland’s historical role in the Agency.
“First of all, it is in the interest of humanitarian aid. Secondly, the head of UNRWA is a Swiss ambassador. There’s a tradition of Switzerland being heads of UNRWA,” he said.
He warned that a funding cut would leave a critical gap in aid to Gaza, where civilians face devastating conditions after months of conflict. “Switzerland should be helpful,” he stressed. “If UNRWA does not function, there is a huge vacuum in order to give assistance to the poor people of Gaza who have suffered.”
Israeli ban ‘illogical, unlawful’
Warner also criticised Israel’s decision to bar UNRWA from operating in Gaza, calling it both “illogical and unlawful.”
UNRWA, he said, “is a UN organisation. The fact that Israel, as a sovereign country, refuses to let UNRWA function is to me, illogical and unlawful.”
He pointed to the logistical difficulties of distributing long-awaited humanitarian aid in Gaza brought by “tremendous numbers of trucks” amid the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
“The UNHCR, the High Commissioner for Refugees, that’s not what their job is. That’s not what they’re trained for,” he underlined.
Israel has accused UNRWA of ties to Hamas, he said, claiming that the Agency’s resources are being misused. However, Warner noted that Israel “has not publicly released any evidence” to support these allegations.
“We have never seen publicly the Israeli report on why UNRWA was helping Hamas. It has not been published,” he said. “And only Switzerland and the United States refused to give money to UNRWA today.”
Israel has repeatedly equated UNRWA staff with Hamas members in efforts to discredit them, providing no proof of the claims, while lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.
As the Agency faces an uncertain future, Warner underscored the need for international cooperation. “It’s part of the UN’s job to make sure that UNRWA still functions, and it’s also something to convince Israel that they cannot keep UNRWA out and not functioning.”
