Labor takes another step away from Netanyahu with reversal on Gaza aid pause
As revealed by Capital Brief this week, the federal government has suspended its pause on funding for a key Palestinian aid group.
The Albanese government has continued its gradual distancing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by announcing it will restore funding to a United Nations agency delivering aid to Gaza. But its unclear whether the move will ease pressure on the government from inside the Labor caucus, as well as externally from both its left and right flanks.
The decision, which was foreshadowed by Capital Brief earlier this week, restores a relatively meagre amount of funding — $6 million — to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), but is still highly significant.
In January, Australia joined 12 other countries – including the US and UK – in suspending funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), while a UN investigation into claims 12 of its staff were involved in the 7 October attacks was carried out. UNWRA viewed the allegations as serious enough to fire nine staff members after receiving evidence from Israel.
But with Israel yet to provide that evidence to Australia or its other friends, and as the death toll in Gaza mounts, Canada and the European Union reversed their suspensions over the past week. At a press conference on Friday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed Capital Brief's report that Australia will follow suit – with a new funding arrangement to ensure staff neutrality.
