Canadian International Development Minister Ahmed Hussein said that the US Ambassador to the United Nations appealed to Canada last month to continue funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

In January, Canada, like 16 countries allied with the United States, froze the organization's funding following allegations from Israel that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

But earlier this month, Hussein announced that Ottawa would go ahead with a scheduled payment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East after Canada obtained an interim report on the allegations.

The decision came about two weeks after Hussein met with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the United Nations.

Hussein added that she (Linda Thomas-Greenfield) urged Ottawa "not to withdraw from UNRWA," as the organization is known.

The minister said in a recent interview with the Canadian Press: “She appealed to us to continue dealing with UNRWA and to provide UNRWA with the support it needs, in appreciation of the lifeline that UNRWA provides to the Palestinians.”

The United States has been the largest financial supporter of UNRWA for years, sending $343 million in 2022.

It withdrew its funding on January 26 after these allegations.

Hussein said Canada made the decision to move forward with the $25 million payment to the agency due in April due to reforms and increased accountability within the agency.

He also said that the decision came because the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is getting worse day by day, and there is an urgent need for aid.

Hussein said that UNRWA is the "backbone" of aid in the region.

The European Union, Australia, Sweden, Finland and Iceland have also restored at least some of their funding to UNRWA, but many of its largest donors, including the United States, have yet to do so.

On Tuesday, Germany promised new funding for UNRWA's work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, but its aid to UNRWA in Gaza remains suspended.

Last week, the United States extended a halt to UNRWA funding for at least a year after Congress approved a spending package that averted a government shutdown. Republicans supported this measure to reduce aid.

The White House said as a general principle that it supports the work of UNRWA.

In mid-February, President Joe Biden's administration indicated that it was in talks with allies to maintain the flow of humanitarian aid.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at the time that talks were taking place with international partners “about the importance of ensuring uninterrupted humanitarian assistance.”

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on the details of the private diplomatic discussions.

Hussein said Ottawa is increasingly concerned about "the lack of sufficient access" to get aid into Gaza, especially in the north, where officials say famine is imminent.

Hussein said: "The matter is still not at the level we would like to see, and the level required by the need."

UNRWA continued to blame Israel for refusing to allow an aid convoy to deliver supplies to northern Gaza, saying that two months had passed since the convoy was able to reach the area.

The Israeli government responded by saying that hundreds of trucks full of aid were simply waiting for the United Nations and its partners to be able to distribute it.

Hussein was in Egypt in February, where he said he saw 700 aid trucks parked at the border, where they had been parked for three to four weeks.

He said he raised the need for more entry points into Gaza with the Israeli ambassador to Canada, just as Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the issue with other Israeli officials.

Hussein added that the situation is "very frustrating" for relief organizations and Canada, noting that the number of trucks that passed in January and February was less than in November and December.

UNRWA said that during the first 23 days of this March, 157 aid trucks crossed daily into Gaza on average, less than the target of 500 trucks.

Security is a concern for Israel, which is heavily involved in controlling access to the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Hussein said Israel has a "very strict" process for examining and approving aid trucks.

“However, I believe that even with this consideration, the amount of aid being brought in could be increased, especially by considering more border crossings,” Hussein said.

For his part, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in his response to the “Al-Quds” correspondent’s question about whether US President Joe Biden would use the right of exception to bypass the US Congress’ decision (last Friday, March 22) to stop supporting UNRWA for at least a year, that he (Miller ) He has no knowledge of this mechanism, and everyone is awaiting the results of the investigation conducted by UNRWA into the fact that its employees were involved in the attack of last October 7.