The EU says it will send funds to Gaza's main aid provider after the UN agency agrees to an audit

[Uncle Joe]

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said Friday that it will pay 50 million euros ($54 million) to the main provider of aid in Gaza next week after the cash-strapped U.N. agency agreed to allow EU-appointed experts to audit the way it screens staff to identify extremists.

The UNRWA agency is reeling from allegations that 12 of its 13,000 Gaza staff members participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel. The agency fired the employees, but more than a dozen countries suspended funding worth about $450 million, almost half its budget for 2024.

(snip)

UNRWA took the unusual step of immediately firing its staffers based on Israel’s allegations against them, but with no hard evidence being provided. Each year, UNRWA gives a list of its staff to the Israeli authorities for vetting, and the agency said it has received no complaints.

(snip)

Even as the commission was negotiating the terms of its audit, Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič told EU lawmakers this week that “we have not received any evidence supporting the allegations by Israel that UNWRA’s staff were involved in the terrible events on 7 October.”

(snip)

https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/ap-international/ap-the-eu-says-it-will-send-funds-to-gazas-main-aid-provider-after-the-un-agency-agrees-to-an-audit/