The United Arab Emirates on Thursday pledged to give $15 million to help rebuild the Jenin refugee camp following the Israeli counterterrorism operation there this week, The Associated Press reported, citing the UAE’s official WAM news agency.
According to the report, the money will be granted to UNRWA, the UN agency that assists “Palestinian refugees”, to rebuild damaged homes and businesses and for the agency's services.
UNRWA said some of its own facilities, including the windows and walls of a health center and the road leading up its school, sustained damage in the Israeli operation this week.
The UAE was one of four Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel in the Abraham Accords, which were brokered by the US in 2020.
The UAE was one of four Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel in the Abraham Accords, which were brokered by the US in 2020.
UNRWA has long complained of financial distress. Last November, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini warned that UNRWA is in a "danger zone" that could result in it no longer being able to fulfil its mandate.
At a donor conference last month, UNRWA fundraising fell short of the $300 million it said was necessary to continue assisting Palestinians, with countries pledging just $107 million. The shortfall came even after the United Nations chief said UNRWA "is on the verge of financial collapse."
UNRWA relies on donations from countries around the world. The US, which has long been one of the main supporters of UNRWA, cut a full $300 million in funding to the agency in 2018, when Donald Trump was President.
The Biden administration has announced it intends to resume aid to UNRWA as well as other aid to the Palestinian Authority which was suspended by the Trump administration.
Last month, the United States confirmed it has increased its financial support for UNRWA despite concerns over the incitement against Israelis in UNRWA textbooks and schools.
UNRWA notorious for its anti-Israel activities. During the 2014 counterterrorism Operation Protective Edge, Hamas rockets were discovered inside a school building run by UNRWA.
Likewise, a booby-trapped UNRWA clinic was detonated, killing three IDF soldiers. Aside from the massive amounts of explosives hidden in the walls of the clinic, it was revealed that it stood on top of dozens of terror tunnels, showing how UNRWA is closely embedded with Hamas.
In March, UN Watch and the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) published a report which found that teachers and schools at UNRWA regularly call to murder Jews, and create teaching materials that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite antisemitism.