Millions of dollars earmarked for the Palestinian's coronavirus response have been misappropriated for use by organizations with links to terrorism, a new NGO Monitor report released Sunday claims.
The research watchdog found that several of the groups receiving funds from the World Health Organization and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are tied to the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the EU, the US, and Canada.
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"Among OCHA's NGO partners with ties to the PFLP are the Health Work Committees (HWC), Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC), and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)," the watchdog said.
The financial directors of HWC and UAWC have been charged with the 2019 murder of 17-year-old Rina Shnerb.
NGO Monitor's report questioned whether the stated activities for which the money was earmarked were actually vital or lifesaving. It argued that rather than the money being used for "public health needs and immediate humanitarian consequences in the West Bank, including Gaza and East Jerusalem," it was instead used for anti-Israel advocacy ventures.
Countries that provided COVID-19 humanitarian aid included, Canada, the Eu, France, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait and the UK.
EU functionaries have also been using technicalities to assure Palestinian organizations that new EU rules against financing groups directly or indirectly linked to terrorism do not apply to them.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
