This week, Switzerland’s Federal Council has approved a CHF 20 million ($24 million) aid package for Palestinians, while signalling mounting dissatisfaction with the UN’s embattled Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, reported SRF.
Of the total, CHF 9 million will be directed to humanitarian operations in Gaza and the West Bank. These funds will be channelled through organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organisation—bypassing UNRWA entirely.
Another CHF 10 million will go to support UNRWA programmes in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, with a further CHF 1 million earmarked specifically to implement reforms recommended by a recent review led by Catherine Colonna, a former French foreign minister. The Colonna report, commissioned amid allegations of bias and mismanagement, offered 50 recommendations to improve the agency’s impartiality and governance.
The decision marks a careful recalibration of Swiss policy. While Bern remains committed to humanitarian assistance, it is also distancing itself from the troubled UN body. Switzerland is sending UNRWA a signal that it is not satisfied, said Andreas Stüdli, a parliamentary correspondent for Swiss broadcaster SRF.
The Federal Council has voiced concern over the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, describing the situation as alarming. It called on Israel to uphold international humanitarian law and called for humanitarian agencies to be granted immediate and unrestricted access to the territory.
Despite growing domestic and international scrutiny of aid flows, Switzerland appears determined to maintain support for Palestinian civilians—albeit with strings attached.
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SRF article (in German)
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