Wong signals possible restart to UNRWA

Laura Grassby I February 1, 2024 I Sky News Australia

Wong signals possible restart to UNRWA aid after payments paused amid allegations staff involved in October 7 terror attack

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has signalled humanitarian aid to UNRWA could restart after payments were put on hold amid allegations several employees had links to the October 7 terror attack on Israel.

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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East on Friday said it had opened an investigation into claims from Israeli authorities 12 staff members were involved in the deadly assault.

Nine of the staff were sacked, one is dead and the UN is clarifying the identity of the remaining two.

In response, Australia alongside several other nations temporarily halted funding to the agency.

Ms Wong on Thursday addressed the controversy during a press conference alongside Defence Minister Richard Marles and their New Zealand counterparts in Melbourne following the ANZMIN meeting.

She did not offer a timeline for when funding could restart but stated why successive Australian governments had chosen to fund the agency since 1951.

“It is because of the only organisation that delivers the sort of assistance and substantive support into the occupied Palestinian territories within the international system. That is the reality,” she said.

“Can I also remind people what is happening in Gaza at the moment."

Ms Wong pointed to UN reports which showed 400,000 Gazans were “starving” an additional million at risk of starvation in an attempt to explain why the government had funded the organisation.

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“More than 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering within UNRWA facilities. 3000 of the workers for the association are working on the humanitarian response in the most trying of conditions.

"That is the context in which Australia and Australians provide humanitarian assistance to UNRWA.”

Ms Wong reiterated the allegations made against the 12 employees at UNRWA were “deeply concerning” and reaffirmed their need to be thoroughly investigated.

“We have made clear they need to be thoroughly investigated and those responsible need to be held to account and I have directed, this week, the Australian humanitarian coordinator to lead urgent work with like-minded partners as well as UNRWA on these and other matters,” she said.

“But I think it is important that we remember why it is that previous governments have funded this organisation.

“But also the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the absence of any alternatives, if we are serious about trying to ensure that fewer children are starving. That is what we are faced with.”

Ms Wong has come under fire in recent days both for the temporary pause in the $6 million aid payment promised to the agency and the original decision to fund UNRWA.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told 2GB’s Ray Hadley on Thursday he believed Ms Wong’s position was “untenable” if it was demonstrated she had advice the money could have been used in support of Hamas terrorists.

“If she had advice, which at least from what's publicly reported and as you've just said, she has received that advice, then the money’s being flowed on regardless, and ended up in the hands of terrorists," he said.

“That is an outrage because firstly, it's taxpayers’ money. It's against our national interest, and if she had definite advice – if that's what turned out to be the case – that she should not have ignored and the payment, the transfer of taxpayers’ money, should have been stopped.”

The federal government was reportedly warned by Jewish communities and business leaders in December, weeks before the UNRWA aid payment was announced, there was “mounting evidence” the agency had aided Hamas in its October 7 attack with left 1,200 Israelis dead.

The letter, sent to Ms Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, claimed UNRWA had “allowed Hamas to utilise its buildings to launch rocket attacks into Israel, store weapons and build tunnels” and that some staff had “openly celebrated the October 7 attacks”.

“In light of UNRWA’s complicity with Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, we call on the Australian government to suspend its significant annual funding to UNRWA until urgent reforms of the organisation are implemented,” the letter said.

Meanwhile, independent Senator Lidia Thorpe urged Ms Wong to immediately reinstate the humanitarian assistance, hitting out at the move to pause funding. 

“Wong's cutting of aid to Gaza, and Albanese’s ongoing support for Netanyahu’s brutal attack implicates the Australian Government in genocide,” Ms Thorpe wrote in a post to X on Tuesday.

“Labor is complicit.

“They must urgently restore and increase aid to Gaza, and withdraw all Australian support to Netanyahu's regime.”

AUTHOR Laura Grassby Digital Reporter