The head of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that the decision of nine countries to stop funding the agency is “shocking.”
the Funding suspension By countries including the United Kingdom and the United States following allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the Hamas attacks on 7 October Israel.
“These decisions threaten our ongoing humanitarian work throughout the region, including in particular the Gaza Strip,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.
Follow the live broadcast: 'Iron' intelligence shows UN agency staff's links to Hamas
“UNRWA is the main humanitarian agency in Gaza, with more than two million people relying on it for their survival,” Lazzarini said.
“About 3,000 essential employees out of 13,000 in Gaza continue to work, giving their communities a lifeline that could collapse any time now due to lack of funding,” he added.
He noted that UNRWA “will be forced to suspend its humanitarian response” if funding is not restored.
The agency said on Friday that it had opened an investigation into a number of employees and had severed ties with these people.
Following the allegations, the State Department said it had “temporarily suspended any future funding to UNRWA while we review these troubling allegations.”
She expressed her “dismay” at these allegations, and added: “We remain committed to delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza who are in dire need of it.”
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Senior Israeli advisor says 12 UN members are just 'tip of the iceberg'
“Just the tip of the iceberg,” says a senior adviser to the Israeli prime minister.
This comes after a senior advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu He said that there is “documented, clear and strict” information showing that 12 UNRWA employees were part of the Hamas force that stormed Israel and killed 1,200 civilians.
Mark Regev said that much of the information that led to these accusations was shared by Hamas on social media.
He told Sky News: “Hamas broadcast live on social media and bragged about a lot of material, so you actually see the faces and people involved in a lot of crimes.”
Mr. Regev added that the alleged involvement of UNRWA staff in Hamas operations was “not an aberration” and that this investigation was “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that UNRWA must be replaced as soon as the fighting in the Strip ends.
