Finland will stop providing financial support to UNRWA once its existing funding agreement with the United Nations agency for "Palestinian refugees" expires, the government announced Thursday.
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio of the Finns Party said he had decided not to approve additional funding for the agency. Finland currently provides UNRWA with €5 million annually under an agreement covering 2023 through 2026.
Tavio said Finnish assistance to Palestinian Authority-assigned territories will continue at the same overall level, but will be distributed through other organizations. “The level of funding will not decrease, but it will be provided through other channels, such as the World Food Programme".
Israel welcomed the Finnish decision. In a statement released Friday, the Foreign Ministry said, "Israel welcomes Finland’s decision to end its multi-year funding for UNRWA. It is good to see more countries recognizing the undeniable truth in light of the conclusive evidence of UNRWA employees’ involvement in the October 7 massacre and UNRWA’s inseparable links to Hamas."
"UNRWA is a hotbed of terrorism. It is part of the problem, not part of the solution," the ministry added.
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also praised Helsinki's decision in comments to JNS.
He said that “over the past three years, Israel has systematically exposed how UNRWA has effectively become an extension of the Hamas terrorist organization."
“For years, UNRWA schools have incited violence against Israel, UNRWA employees actively participated in the Oct. 7 massacre and throughout the war, terrorists carried out attacks against Israelis from UNRWA facilities," Danon said. “This is why the State of Israel outlawed UNRWA. I welcome the Finnish government’s decision to end funding for UNRWA and call for other nations to join us."
Finland was among numerous countries that suspended funding to UNRWA in January 2024 after Israel presented evidence that 12 agency employees had participated in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks. Helsinki restored its funding in March 2024 and continued honoring its obligations under the four-year agreement.
A UN-commissioned review headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna examined the allegations concerning UNRWA personnel. The resulting report identified "neutrality-related issues" within the agency, but also concluded that Israel had not supplied evidence supporting claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees were members of terrorist organizations.
In October 2024, the Knesset passed legislation barring UNRWA from operating in Israel and prohibiting Israeli officials from maintaining contact with it. The legislation was subsequently amended to prevent electricity and water from being supplied to UNRWA facilities.
Earlier this week, the IDF, Israel Police and Jerusalem Municipality carried out an operation to evacuate the UNRWA compound in Kafr Aqab, northern Jerusalem, in accordance with the legislation.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized the move, warning that the closure would affect vocational training for young people.
“The Secretary-General is greatly alarmed at this development, as it will deprive young people of the vocational education they were receiving," Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Dujarric also argued that the facility is protected under the legal status granted to UNRWA properties, saying the training center “and other UNRWA premises are premises of the United Nations. They are inviolable and immune from any form of interference."
12 countries, including eight European Union members, separately condemned Israel's dismantling of the Jerusalem facility on Thursday. Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom issued the statement, with all 12 countries serving on UNRWA's Advisory Commission.
The countries described Israel's entry into and seizure of the compound as “unlawful" and reaffirmed their backing for UNRWA.
They called for “immediate and full compliance with the UN obligations allowing UNRWA to carry out its mandated activities without interference," and urged Israel to “halt all disruptions" to the agency's operations.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)