Middle East National Council wants to stop payments to UN Palestinian relief organization

The National Council wants to stop Switzerland's payments to the UN Palestinian relief organization Unrwa immediately. On Monday, it adopted a motion to this effect tabled by David Zuberbühler, a member of the SVP National Council from Ausserrhoden, by 99 votes to 88 with seven abstentions.

The upper chamber approved the motion by 99 votes to 88 with seven abstentions. It will now go to the Council of States.

The background to the decision is allegations that Unrwa employees have links to Hamas and that incitement against Israel has been made at the organization's schools. Zuberbühler therefore wants to exclude payments to Unrwa for the future.

The SP, Greens and GLP voted against the motion. The FDP and the Center Party were divided on the matter.

In May, the Federal Council approved a contribution of ten million francs to Unrwa for emergency aid. It argued without success that an immediate stop to payments would have serious consequences for the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. This is because the UN relief organization provides a large part of the infrastructure and logistics for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

"Without the cooperation of Unrwa staff, it would be almost impossible to help," said Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.

A second motion on Unrwa was also adopted by the large chamber on Monday. The motion from the National Council's Foreign Affairs Committee calls for Switzerland to directly support emergency aid from other organizations in the Gaza Strip instead of the UN organization. This would also mean that direct transfers to the UNRWA would no longer take place in future. This issue will also go to the Council of States.

SDA