Robertson urges UK to resume funding UNRWA in Gaza

Some 16 countries paused funds to the agency in January after Israel accused at least 12 UNRWA staff of involvement in the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas. US intelligence cast doubt on Israel's claims last month.

Palestinian children line up to be fed in Rafah, Gaza Strip. International aid agencies say Gaza is suffering from shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies.  Photo AP.

The European Commission, Sweden and Canada have since announced they will resume aid payments to UNRWA after receiving assurances of extra checks on its spending and personnel.

In a letter to Andrew Mitchell, the UK’s international development minister, Mr Robertson said: “When increased levels of aid finally start to enter the Gaza Strip, UNRWA remains the only organisation with the capacity to distribute it at the scale required throughout the territory. They must be able to fulfil this critical function. I cannot overstate how crucial this decision is, for the very survival of starving children, women and men in Gaza.”

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf Gaza aid row: What is it all about?

In a statement on Sunday night to The Herald, Keith Brown, the SNP’s depute leader, urged the Scottish Conservatives to block MSP Stephen Kerr from standing as a candidate at the general election after he accused First Minister Humza Yousaf of a conflict of interest ove the funding to UNRWA. 

Mr Brown said Mr Kerr should not be allowed to stand in Angus & Perthshire Glens after he questioned a £250,000 donation by the Scottish Government to UNRWA made in early November.

Palestinian crowds struggle to buy bread from a bakery in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. International aid agencies say Gaza is suffering from shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair).

It was reported at the weekend that Mr Yousaf had overruled advice from civil servants in November last year to have the cash given to the UNRWA. Officials had recommended that between £100,000 and £200,000 be given to Unicef, the children’s charity, The Daily Telegraph reported.

READ MORE: SNP call for Kerr to be sacked as MP hopeful as Gaza aid row deepens

Relatives of Nadia El-Nakla, the first minister’s wife, have been trapped in Gaza since the Israeli assault began in October

Mr Kerr said Mr Yousaf had a “clear conflict of interest” in giving aid to Gaza because members of his wife’s family had been trapped in the territory since the start of Israeli reprisals over the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The first minister’s parents-in-law were able to leave the country and return home to Scotland on November 3. Other members of the family later fled to Turkey. As of mid-January, the brother and elderly grandmother of Yousaf’s wife were still in the territory.

Mr Yousaf condemned the story as Islamophobic and said there was no conflict of interest, with UNRWA having no role in helping his parents in law leave Gaza and return safely to Scotland.

He said the Foreign Office had helped his relatives "like every other British national".

In a social media post he also pointed out that many other countries across the world had responded to the UNRWA emergency appeal believing it was the most flexible way of getting aid to people in the territory.

Mr Kerr insisted on Sunday he had “no regrets” over his comments to the Telegraph and believed Mr Yousaf's had over-reacted.

Mr Brown told Good Morning Scotland on the BBC yesterday: “Look at the article, look at the consequences of the article, look at what Stephen Kerr’s done, look at him smirking on TV yesterday knowing exactly the reaction he was going to get in relation to this. I think it’s a despicable way to go about their business.”

He added: “I don’t think Stephen Kerr is fit to be a candidate at the Westminster election. The prime minister should condemn the article and make sure Stephen Kerr is not allowed to stand as a Westminster candidate.”

Responding for the UK Government, Development Minister Andrew Mitchell told The Herald: “There must be proper undertakings and reforms to UNRWA to ensure that these dreadful failings cannot happen again. Donors to UNRWA need reassurance that there are proper checks and systems in place.

“UNRWA have a vital role to play in providing aid and services to Gaza, and the wider region. But the promotion of extremism is clearly completely unacceptable.”