The Government of Catalonia has approved a contribution of 800,000 euros to UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to continue its response to the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories, and the humanitarian emergency in the Gaza Strip in particular.

With this fresh contribution, the Government of Catalonia reinforces its undertaking to address the humanitarian emergency taking place in the Palestinian territories and makes a clear commitment to the United Nations system. The grant covers the Gaza emergency, but also provides support for the sexual and reproductive health programme being undertaken in two refugee camps in the West Bank.

The Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation has a long history of working in partnership with UNRWA dating back to 2004, involving funding projects and programmes for health, psychosocial support, emergency response, food distribution and shelter for the Palestinian refugee population.

Indeed, last October the Government allocated 800,000 euros to UNRWA to support the mother and child health programme at the Deir al-Balah health centre in Gaza, and in the Askar and Balata refugee camps in the West Bank; and a second extraordinary contribution of 295,000 euros for emergency food distribution to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip following the escalation of violence in October 2023.

The war in Gaza is creating a severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The blockade of basic supplies, the order of the forced population displacement from the northern part of the Strip to the south and the bombing of infrastructure have created an emergency for the people in the territory. The escalation of hostilities in Gaza has also had a serious impact on the lives, safety and livelihoods of people living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

For all these reasons, the planned contribution for this year to United Nations bodies providing aid to Palestine is 1.6 million euros – an increase of 15% compared to 2023.

The position of the Government of Catalonia on the crisis in Gaza

The Government of Catalonia condemns the indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population and demands the release of the hostages, as well as an immediate and permanent ceasefire, as called for in the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council, and ongoing and sufficient access for humanitarian aid to respond to the immediate needs of the civilian population in Gaza.

The Catalan executive also calls for recognition of the Palestinian state in order to move towards a stable resolution of the conflict and insists on the need for compliance with international humanitarian law and an end to the arms trade with Israel.