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MIDDLE EAST

Denmark releases withheld aid funding to UNRWA

Denmark on Thursday followed similar decisions announced by Sweden and the EU and said it would pay 105 million kroner in aid funding to UNRWA, the UN’s humanitarian agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

Published: 14 March 2024 16:51 CET
Denmark releases withheld aid funding to UNRWA
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians wait to receive United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) aid in Rafah. Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

In January, the government put payment of the aid on hold after Israel accused UNRWA of being connected to the terrorist attack inside Israeli territory committed by Hamas on October 7th.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is very awful. It is approaching famine and the social infrastructure has completely collapsed. There is a huge need for humanitarian aid,” development minister Dan Jørgensen said.

The decision was made following talks with UNRWA and other European countries. The Danish government said it had given the UN agency a number of criteria and that these had been complied with.

Based on this, Denmark can now release the aid money, Jørgensen said.

“UNRWA has acted resolutely and fired the members of staff who were involved in this, and has begun an internal investigation,” the minister said.

Denmark has also reached bilateral agreement with UNRWA over ongoing information and control, it said.

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MIDDLE EAST

Danish intelligence agency says terror threat affected by war in Gaza

The threat of terror has increased in Denmark primarily due to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, according to the Danish police intelligence agency PET.

Published: 21 March 2024 17:09 CET
Danish intelligence agency says terror threat affected by war in Gaza

The overall terror threat rating against Denmark remains at four out of five, however, PET said in a new threat assessment released on Thursday.

“Both Quran desecrations and the conflict in the Middle East have a derived significance for the threat situation in Denmark,” the head of PET’s Centre for Terror Analysis, Michael Hamann, said in a press statement.

PET therefore sees the terror threat against Denmark and Danish interests as intensified for at least the next year, the statement continues.

The Centre for Terror Analysis has long considered the level of terror threat to Denmark to be at a level of four out of five. This rating means that PET has identified the capacity, intention and planning of a potential attack against Denmark, but without any attack taking place.

A level five rating would mean both a specific threat and possible initiation of an attack.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has potential to radicalise, meaning it could have consequences related to the terror threat in Denmark, Hamann said.

“It’s important to stress that it naturally is completely legitimate to be engaged and have an opinion about the conflict as long as this is done in a legal way. The many civilian victims cause an emotional response for many people [in Denmark],” he said.

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