“Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, announced that Canada will be lifting its temporary pause on funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),” Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said.
Canada believes UNRWA plays a vital role in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the over two million inhabitants of Gaza and more than four million in the region, GAC added.
Moreover, in support of Jordanian airdropping operations over the Palestinian enclave, Canada will be contributing C$100,000 to the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation for the purchase of supplies, GAC said.
The Canadian Armed Forces will also be providing nearly 300 cargo parachutes to the Royal Jordanian Air Force to support airdrops of critical supplies in Gaza.
Previously, alongside the United States, Australia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Austria, Romania, and the United Kingdom, Canada had suspended its donations to UNRWA following Israel's accusations that some of the agency's staff participated in the Hamas attacks on the Jewish state on October 7.
Some 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military operations and more than 76,000 have been wounded, according to the local authorities. More than 1.9 million Palestinians out of 2.3 million in Gaza have been displaced and more than half are facing hunger and starvation as a result of Israel's blockade.