On Monday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), one of the negotiators of the Senate’s border and foreign policy package, stated that stripping funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the bill “was a demand of Republicans, the only way that they were willing to support any humanitarian aid into Gaza was to strip out the authority for that money to go to UNRWA. We didn’t feel like it was the responsible thing to abandon humanitarian aid completely,” and he thinks “there are ways to work with allies to make sure that UNRWA continues to be funded” and use American dollars to support other groups in the region.
While Murphy was on “PBS NewsHour,” co-host Amna Nawaz asked, “I have to ask about another provision in the bill that includes the aid…for Gaza, among other places, but it strips funding for UNRWA, which is the United Nations agency that operates inside of Gaza, that’s because Israel accused twelve of their employees of being part of the October 7 attacks. But we’ve heard UNRWA is the only group capable of actually delivering aid on the ground. So, is there any other group on the ground that you think could actually get the aid where it needs to go?”
Murphy answered, “So, I do. UNRWA has been a very effective group in getting aid to people in need. We’re also learning that elements of UNRWA are compromised. This was a demand of Republicans, the only way that they were willing to support any humanitarian aid into Gaza was to strip out the authority for that money to go to UNRWA. We didn’t feel like it was the responsible thing to abandon humanitarian aid completely, and we also do know that groups like the Red Crescent, groups like the World Food Program, other smaller not-for-profit actors on the ground can get this key humanitarian aid out. So, we believe that we can find good, responsible vetted partners. We also believe that some of our allies in and around the region and in Europe will be able to help UNRWA keep their operations up and running.”
Earlier, while on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Murphy said that while UNRWA needs to “work to get its act together to make sure that it holds its own employees accountable, but we believe that there are ways to work with allies to make sure that UNRWA continues to be funded and to use U.S. dollars to support other partners that do have significant on the ground operations inside Gaza.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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