Taoiseach welcomes EU Commission emergency aid package for Palestinians

“I very much welcome the decision by the European Commission to release €50 million in funding for UNRWA, and to increase its humanitarian aid for Palestinians. The role that UNRWA plays, both in Gaza and in the wider region, is crucial and irreplaceable. As we saw with yesterday’s tragic events, people in Gaza are in desperate need of urgent humanitarian support. UNRWA is essential in getting it to them.

“In the face of such enormous need, increasing aid now, as Ireland and the Commission have done, is the right thing to do. Ireland and the European Commission are very much aligned on this.

“I am glad that the Commission has said that it will also step up its aid to Palestinians this year by €68 million - to be channelled through partners like the Red Cross and the Red Crescent - and I very much hope that the further amounts due to UNRWA later this year will also be issued without delay, once the UN’s internal investigation into serious allegations about UNRWA staff and the independent Review Group led by Catherine Colonna have reported.

“In particular, I thank the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for taking this decision.

“Palestinian people are not responsible for the crimes committed by Hamas and should not be subject to any form of collective punishment. Doing so would be a violation of international law and profoundly wrong and unjust.”

Notes