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“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is devastating and the needs are acute,” said Sweden’s International Development Minster Johan Forssells in a statement Saturday. “We will monitor closely to ensure UNRWA follows through on what it has promised.”
Canada also announced it would be lifting its “temporary pause on funding” to UNRWA, stating Friday that it was “deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza that is worsening by the hour.”
Earlier this week, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned that the agency was “at a breaking point” after several countries, including the United States, suspended funding. The agency also reported Friday that 162 staff members have been killed since the war in Gaza began, calling it the highest number of U.N. team members ever killed in any conflict or natural disaster.
U.N. officials have warned that more than a quarter of Gaza’s population are on the brink of famine, and several countries, including the U.S., have resorted to air dropping aid into the besieged enclave. The Biden administration has also announced plans to build a temporary pier off Gaza’s coastline to enable scaled-up aid deliveries by sea.
Earlier this month the European Commission said it had committed 82 million euros ($90 million) to UNRWA in 2024. However, two of UNRWA’s largest donors, the U.S. and Germany, have still suspended funding. The U.S. donated $300 million to UNRWA in 2022.
Dozens of members of Congress have signed a letter addressed to the House Appropriations Committee calling on the Biden administration to restore U.S. funding for the agency.
Here’s what else to know
A strike hit Rafah’s tallest building overnight, causing significant damage. The al Masry Tower is a 14-floor residential building, considered the tallest and oldest tower in Rafah and was built in the 90s. There were no immediate reports of casualties, and a Washington Post photographer at the scene said residents had been told to evacuate prior to the strike.
President Biden said reaching a cease-fire agreement by Ramadan is “looking tough,” a shift from his previous optimism on negotiations in the lead-up to the Muslim holy month. Israel and Hamas are trying to reach a deal through mediators that would pause fighting and allow for the release of hostages. Biden said this week that if a pause is not reached by Ramadan — which begins Sunday or Monday, depending on the phases of the moon — “it could be very, very dangerous.”
The Pentagon said constructing an offshore pier and causeway off Gaza could take as long as 60 days and require about 1,000 U.S. troops. The temporary pier, which Biden announced Thursday, is intended to enable the delivery of 2 million meals daily to Gaza, which has been under an Israeli maritime blockade since 2007. Aid groups have warned that the pier is no substitute for aid deliveries by land, and urged Israel to reopen its land border crossings with Gaza.
Five people were killed Friday after an apparent parachute malfunction during an aid airdrop caused a loaded crate to fall on people, according to a civil defense spokesman in Gaza. Several countries have airdropped aid to Gaza in recent weeks, including the United States. U.S. Central Command said Friday that it was “aware of reports of civilians killed as a result of humanitarian airdrops” and that the incident was not the result of U.S. airdrops.
U.S. Central Command said early Saturday that the Houthis conducted a “large-scale” drone attack into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. American and coalition forces in the region shot down 15 one-way attack drones, Centcom said. The Houthis have been targeting ships in the waterway in protest of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, upending global shipping routes.
At least 30,960 people have been killed and 72,524 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 247 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in
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