Keep UNRWA support, Foreign Ministry urges: The Foreign Ministry called on donor countries to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) to continue supporting the agency after allegations by Israel that some of the agency’s employees took part in October 7 attacks, it said in a statement yesterday. “The Kingdom urges all supporters of UNRWA to carry out their role in supporting the humanitarian tasks toward Palestinian refugees in the besieged Gaza Strip…,” it said. It added that review and investigation procedures into the allegations should result in “facts coupled with evidence.”
BACKGROUND- Major donors to UNRWA, including the United States, UK, France, Germany and others, suspended funding on allegations that 12 of the agency’s 13k Palestinian employees were involved in October 7 attacks.
The Kingdom was one of UNRWA’s top donors in 2022: Saudi Arabia provided USD 27 mn to UNRWA in 2022 and made a contribution of USD 2 mn to the relief agency a week after the war broke out in Gaza.
ALSO FROM MOFA- The Foreign Ministry condemned “in the strongest possible terms” an attack by Iran-backed fighters that killed three members of the US military and wounded others in a drone attack on an American outpost in Jordan, it said in a statement yesterday.
NATIONAL SECURITY-
Saudi and Indian troops are running their first-ever joint military exercises through 10 February in Rajasthan, the Times of India reports. Video coverage: Hindustan Times (watch, runtime: 3:28).