AMMAN, 23 May 2003 — The UN agency in charge of Palestinian refugees said yesterday it will continue operating in the Gaza Strip despite an Israel closure of the territory and announced new funds from six countries to finance its activities.

“The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees ... will not halt its humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip as a consequence of the closure imposed by the Israeli authorities,” UNRWA said at the end of an informal meeting with donor nations in Jordan.

“For some smaller agencies and non-government organizations the option of closing down operations might be one way of dealing with the difficulties caused by the Gaza closure,” UNRWA chief Peter Hansen said in a statement.

“For UNRWA, which has 174 schools, 17 clinics, 8,000 staff and 900,000 refugees to serve in Gaza, this option simply does not exist,” Hansen said, reaffirming a commitment to serving the refugees “whatever the difficulties it faces”.

But the new funds announced yesterday total only $34 million of the 94 million UNRWA “needs to carry out emergency operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the first half of 2003”, the statement said.

“This funding shortfall comes amid growing hardship and desperation in the occupied Palestinian territories, where demands for UNRWA services are increasing,” Hansen said.

“More than one million people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip rely on UNRWA for food aid and 12,000 refugees have lost their homes to (Israeli Army) demolitions and need humanitarian assistance from UNRWA,” the statement added.

In addition “thousands of children in UNRWA schools have been traumatized by violence and require counselling,” it said.

The United States pledged an additional $67 million for the regular budget and emergency operations of the agency, the US Embassy in Amman said, bringing the total this year to $95 million.

Britain pledged $22.4 million, while Saudi Arabia agreed to donate $6 million “to be used toward a project to preserve UNRWA’s refugee records and assist with shelter reconstruction” in the territories.

Other funds were pledged by Norway, Switzerland and Australia.

The statement capped two days of meetings between Hansen and representatives of donor nations and host countries for Palestinian refugees.