UNRWA chief Pierre Lazzarini said on Monday he had no intention of resigning and hoped the EU would continue to fund his agency, after allegations staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel.
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00:00 The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has said he hopes the
00:05 European Commission will keep funding their operations.
00:08 In a visit to Brussels on Monday, Filippo Lazzarini said it was critical the cash flow
00:12 to the organization continues.
00:14 The agency is investigating whether 12 of its employees took part in Hamas` October
00:19 7 attacks against Israel.
00:21 Israel has also alleged Hamas has tunnels under the agency`s headquarters in Gaza.
00:26 More than a dozen countries, including several EU member states, suspended funding worth
00:31 nearly 410 million euros.
00:40 The commission contribution is absolutely critical because it`s $82 million expected
00:47 beginning of March.
00:50 If we would have had no pause or freeze of funding, our cash flow would have been good
00:59 until the end of July.
01:01 Our cash flow will suffer as from now, as from the month of March.
01:06 It will be negative, expected negative 30 to 40 million in March, but then it will be
01:12 significantly negative as from April.
01:16 The conclusions from the investigation could take months to appear, but the EU`s chief
01:20 of diplomacy, Joseph Borrell, has hinted the European Commission could make some decisions
01:24 before that.
01:27 The bloc`s 27 countries will have to coordinate a decision on the agency, but Borrell says
01:31 the U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees is irreplaceable.
01:36 If I have to look at the majority feeling, I think that the majority clearly is understanding
01:46 the fact that there is no alternative to support the Palestinian people that what we have in
01:52 place and has been in place for 70 years or more with Hamas and without Hamas.
02:00 So, I cannot imagine a magic wand to say that tomorrow someone will come and provide the
02:06 school to have a million young people.
02:08 Lazarini said that Israel`s operations in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, are already
02:13 disrupting the entrance of humanitarian aid.
02:15 Convoys are also being attacked due to the lack of local police protection.
02:20 While in Brussels, Lazarini also said for the first time that he would not resign against
02:24 repeated requests by the Israeli government.
02:26 For more UN videos visit: www.un.org/webcast
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