US Officials inform American leaders of Arab descent in Michigan that the US administration plans to wait for the results of an internal investigation being conducted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) before deciding to resume its aid to the agency.
On Thursday, Samantha Power, the head of the US Agency for International Development, along with other senior officials, visited Michigan, a state where competition is intensifying in the 2024 presidential elections. Criticism within the state has been directed towards President Joe Biden’s policy on Israel, his failure to call for a ceasefire in the attacks on Gaza, and the continued provision of military support.
During the meeting, American lawyer Ali Daqer, of Lebanese descent, stated that officials emphasized Washington’s continued commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, but they will wait until the UNRWA investigation is concluded.
Daqer participated in a discussion with four American officials in Dearborn, a city near Detroit predominantly inhabited by Americans of Arab descent.
Reuters quoted Abbas Alawi, a former senior congressional official, saying that Power extensively discussed UNRWA but indicated that Biden does not intend to reverse his decision to suspend funding for the agency.
Sixteen countries had suspended their funding to UNRWA after Israel accused 12 of the agency’s employees, out of a total of 13,000 in Gaza, of participating in the October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Israel.
UNRWA officials anticipate that the initial investigation by the United Nations Oversight Office will take several weeks.
Israel welcomed the investigation on Friday, with a spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry stating that “forming an independent review group to assess (UNRWA’s) neutrality after information indicating the agency’s employees’ involvement in terrorist activities is a positive step, albeit overdue.”
