Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, as the government considers again the possible renewal of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, I think it's really important to remember that UNRWA was originally created in 1949 as a temporary humanitarian relief agency to assist both displaced Jews as well as Arabs in Israel after the creation of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
We all know that in recent years, UNRWA has become somewhat anachronistic and, in fact, has been penetrated by some of the Hamas terrorist factions who have interfered in a variety of ways with the delivery of Canadian humanitarian relief, which is too dangerous for Canadians to deliver, we understand, and has been in some cases mishandled in its intended delivery to needy civilian populations.
There have been suggestions from a number of quarters in Canada and abroad that, in fact, the government should abandon any thoughts of renewing funding through UNRWA and instead deal with the United Nations Refugee Agency, because the UNHCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, is intended for a population that has been, since 1949, held captive as human flags, if you will, by the populations in Gaza and the West Bank and would be better both in making sure that the aid is delivered to the civilian populations in need, but also to begin finally to rebuild those societies to prosper, to negotiate coexistence with Israel, and to live in peace.
I'm wondering what your thoughts are in these early months.