Mother Jones; Yuri Gripas/Cnp/CNP/Zuma; Omar Ishaq/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
In mid-January, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations’ agency responsible for Palestinian refugees—known as UNRWA—received the names of 12 employees who had allegedly participated in the October 7 attack by Hamas. The Israeli diplomat who shared the information provided no evidence to support the claim. Nevertheless, Lazzarini flew to the United States from Israel to tell American officials about the disclosure and that he was responding by firing the workers on the list who remained alive and supporting a high-level independent investigation.
Lazzarini had traveled to Washington, DC, knowing it was vital to maintain the support of his agency’s largest donor, especially with Gaza on the brink of famine. If the US and its allies pulled support, UNRWA—the most important humanitarian organization in Gaza—would be crippled at the moment it was most needed.
Rather than accept Lazzarini’s assurances or offer to await the findings of the independent inquiry, the Biden administration quickly decided to temporarily pause funding for the agency, even though less than 0.1 percent of its employees in Gaza were accused of participating in the October 7 attack. In doing so, the administration imperiled the only organization capable of responding to the catastrophe caused by the Israeli assault: Scott Paul, a humanitarian policy expert at Oxfam, described the agency as the “backbone” of the response in Gaza and explained that up to 80 percent of aid to the area is dependent on it in some form. The organization has been feeding and sheltering more than 1 million people in Gaza.
More than a dozen US allies, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada, followed America’s lead. Lazzarini has warned that the “rash” decisions by these countries, which led to about $450 million of donations being put on hold, have pushed UNRWA to its “breaking point.” William Deere, UNRWA’s senior congressional adviser in Washington, said nearly 70 percent of the agency’s funding was paused in some form. “We’re living month to month,” Deere explained in February. “We can muddle through March, but after that we have to shut our doors.” The organization received a reprieve last week when the European Union decided to provide about $54 million in funding, but a massive shortfall remains.
The Biden administration’s decision to suspend funding for UNRWA is emblematic of the biases that have plagued its response to the war in Gaza. Israel has gotten almost everything it wants from the United States: thousands of bombs, vetoes of UN ceasefire resolutions, and bipartisan support for billions of security assistance making its way through Congress. This is happening even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defies his most important ally, refusing to allow enough aid into Gaza to prevent famine and declining to back away from a potential invasion of Rafah. Yet there are no signs the Biden administration will impose real........