Suspicions Against 12 UNRWA Employees Should Not Be Used as Collective Punishment, Moscow Says
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The suspicions against 12 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) employees should not be used to collectively punish the whole agency, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier this week, UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini has said Israel had shared with UNRWA data on the alleged involvement of some of the agency's staff members in the Hamas attack and vowed to hold accountable anyone involved in "acts of terror." The United States, Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada, Germany and some other countries swiftly responded by suspending funding for UNRWA.
"Suspicions against 12 agency employees cannot and should not be used to collectively punish the entire UN structure (the agency's staff in Gaza numbers 13,000 people) and almost 6 million Palestinians in the OPT and in neighboring Arab countries," the ministry said.
Russia confirmed its support for the activities of UNRWA, which is a key structure for providing comprehensive assistance to the Palestinians in the face of the unresolved refugee problem, the ministry said.
