London –
Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and Finland on Saturday became the latest to suspend funding to the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) following allegations that some of its staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. It became a country.
The United States, Australia and Canada had already suspended funding to aid agencies, a key source of support for people in the Gaza Strip, following Israel’s claims. The agency announced Friday that it had begun investigations into several employees and had severed ties with them.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz encouraged further donor suspensions, said UNRWA should be replaced once the fighting in the enclave ends, and accused it of having ties to Islamic extremists in the Gaza Strip.
“In rebuilding Gaza, @UNRWA must be replaced with an institution dedicated to true peace and development,” he added of X.
Asked about Katz’s comments, UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said: “We are not reacting to rhetoric. UNRWA as a whole is performing well and we have repeatedly stressed that. .”
The US, Canada, Finland, Australia, Italy and the UK suspended funding. @UNRWA Because of the staff’s involvement in the October 7th massacre. We call on more countries to participate. @UNRWAIts ties to Hamas, providing a haven for terrorists and perpetuating its rule, are undeniable. …
— Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) January 27, 2024
Reuters reached out to UNRWA’s communications director for comment, but he did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UNRWA has always rejected similar accusations in the past and maintained that it is a relief and humanitarian agency.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized what it called Israel’s campaign against UNRWA, and Hamas accused it of terminating employees’ contracts “based on information obtained from Zionist enemies.”
UNRWA was established to support refugees from the 1948 war during the founding of Israel, and provides education, medical and aid services to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It supports about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s population of 2.3 million people and has played a vital aid role in the war Israel launched to eliminate Hamas after the October 7 attack.
The UK Foreign Office announced on Saturday that it would suspend funding to UNRWA while it reviews the allegations.
“The Italian government has suspended financing to UNRWA following the brutal attack on Israel on October 7,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on social media X.
Palestinians put out a fire at a UNRWA vocational training center building used as a shelter for displaced people after it was targeted by an Israeli tank battery in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, January 24, 2024. (AP Photo) /) Ramez Haboob)The Netherlands and Finland also announced they would suspend funding.
UNRWA Secretary-General Philippe Lazzarini announced the investigation on Friday and said he had decided to terminate the contracts of some staff to protect UNRWA’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance.
Lazzarini declined to say how many employees were involved in the attack or what their involvement was. However, he said “UNRWA personnel involved in acts of terrorism” would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution. During weeks of Israeli shelling of the Palestinian enclave, UNRWA has repeatedly stated that its ability to provide humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip is on the verge of collapse.
Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the Palestinian umbrella political group Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said cutting aid to the organization poses significant political and relief risks.
“We call on the countries that announced the suspension of support to UNRWA to immediately reverse their decisions,” he said at X.
We call on the countries that have announced the suspension of support. #UNRWA At this time, and given the continued attacks on the Palestinian people, immediately reversing their decision carries great risks for political and humanitarian redress… https://t.co/mxIam0zmZs
— Hussein Sheikhpl (@HusseinSheikhpl) January 27, 2024
The German Foreign Ministry, a major donor to UNRWA, welcomed the UNRWA investigation and said it was deeply concerned by the allegations leveled against the agency’s staff.
“We hope that Mr. Lazzarini will make it clear within UNRWA staff that all forms of hatred and violence are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” the newspaper said in X.
(Reporting by James Davie in London, Gavin Jones in Rome, Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Doha, Toby Stirling in Amsterdam, Thomas Escritt in Berlin and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by William MacLean, Andrew Cawthorn, Frances Kelly and Nick McPhee)