(TheConservativeTimes.org) – The services provided by the United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency, or UNRWA, have been helping Palestinians in Lebanon to get the healthcare that they need, but the funding has just been cut.
Many Palestinians rely on UNRWA to help fund services like education and healthcare, which is where they will suffer the most. All twelve members of the agency voted to pause payment, which could lead to a crisis and many deaths. The Lebanese government has said that a pause of these funds would cause catastrophe for the 150 sites that are run by the agency.
The stop of funding was brought on after Israel claimed that some members of the UNRWA took part in the October 7 attacks.
Palestinians are suffering and many of them don’t have access to Lebanese schools, or healthcare, and they are not able to own property. Employment and deprivation are high with more than three-fourths of Palestinians living in poverty.
UNRWA is an important factor that helps get Palestinians jobs and helps move them forward with their goals in Lebanon. Tarek Moneim, chief executive of Initiate, a program supporting entrepreneurship and empowerment for Palestinians in Lebanon, said, “It is the dream of every Palestinian to find a job there.”
They are also supplying cash payments to the most vulnerable families and without these payments, many families are already feeling the effects. Many have had to make hard decisions, and there is fear behind the depleting healthcare accessibility and the lack of cash funding for families.
Abdelnasser el-Ayi, the director of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee said “Leaving the people without any services would make people much more inclined to join the militant groups, who actually can offer them money and can offer them survival. They are already in terrible living conditions.”
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