Sweden doubles aid to Gaza, but ends UNRWA funding

Sweden announced plans Friday to stop funding to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency in response to an Israeli ban, but pledged to increase its aid to Gaza via other groups.

The government said funding earmarked for Gaza would total 800 million kronor ($72 million) in 2025, but aid to UNRWA, which totalled 451 million kronor in 2024, would be stopped.

Israeli lawmakers have passed legislation to bar UNRWA from operating in Israel and east Jerusalem, while raising the prospect of similar measures against other aid agencies.

Lawmakers backed the legislation after years of harsh Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has only increased since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks last year.

"Israel's two decisions in the Knesset, which Sweden has criticised, will make many of UNRWA's activities more difficult and impossible," Benjamin Dousa, Minister for International Development Cooperation, said in a post to X.

UNRWA provides assistance to nearly six million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

"Swedish aid must reach its destination, not get stuck in a bank account along the way. Due to Israel's decision in the Knesset, we are therefore forced to pass on the aid to other organisations," Dousa said, giving the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and UN children's charity UNICEF as examples.

Dousa added that UNRWA was "also going through a crisis of confidence."

The agency has faced criticism from Israeli officials that has escalated since the start of the war in Gaza, which was unleashed after Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

In response, Israel launched a withering assault on Gaza that has killed at least 45,129 people, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health ministry figures that the United Nations considers reliable.