Japan resumes funding for UNRWA with $35m donation

The Japanese government on Monday said it had resumed its funding of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and sent a donation of about $35 million to the organization.

The money will be used to provide vital supplies for women and babies in the Gaza Strip, and medical services in the West Bank, the Jiji Press news agency reported.

Japanese authorities suspended their funding for UNRWA after Israeli officials in January alleged that 12 people working for the agency, out of a total of 30,000, had played a part in the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.

Japan, the sixth-biggest single donor to the agency, and 15 other countries put about $450 million of funding on hold in response to the allegation, throwing the agency’s operations in the war-torn Gaza Strip into turmoil. The Japanese government had announced on April 2 that it was lifting the suspension.

Some other countries that suspended payments to UNRWA in the immediate aftermath of the allegation have similarly resumed funding, including Australia and Canada.