He said organizations like the Red Cross operate on a much smaller scale than UNRWA, which runs most of the schools in Gaza as well as medical centers and teacher training facilities.
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The United States, Canada, Britain, Finland and Italy also temporarily halted funding for the agency, which announced it had terminated its contracts with several employees and ordered an investigation after Israel provided information alleging they played a role in the October 7 attack.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham welcomed the decision but questioned why Wong announced additional funding for UNRWA during a trip to the Middle East earlier this month given concerns about the organization were well known.
“Not a single dollar of Australian taxpayer money should go to activities that could fund or support terrorism, or that could encourage or exacerbate extremism,” he told Sky News on Monday.
“We must be very careful and careful to ensure that Australian taxpayer dollars support real humanitarian needs.”
Green Party Senator Mehreen Farooqi called on the government to reverse its decision, saying: “Suspending life-saving funding to the largest relief provider in Gaza is nothing short of a disaster.
“It is a despicable and heartless act by Australia and other countries that completely failed to condemn Israel for its war crimes for 114 days, but immediately jumped in to impose further collective punishment on two million people in the siege.”
“We welcome the government’s announcement and hope the funding suspension will be made permanent in time,” Alex Revchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said.
“Extreme care must be taken to ensure Australian aid spending never goes to malign actors like UNRWA again.”
UNRWA, an independent agency dedicated to Palestine refugees, employs thousands of Palestinians and provides aid and services to millions of people across the Middle East. In Gaza, it was the main supplier of food, water and shelter to civilians during the war between Israel and Hamas.
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Israel has long criticized the agency, accusing it of tolerating or even cooperating with Hamas and perpetuating the 75-year-old Palestinian refugee crisis. The Israeli government accused Hamas and other armed groups of embezzling aid and using UN facilities for military purposes.
UNRWA denies these accusations and says it took swift action against the employees accused of participating in the attack.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that two million Palestinians in Gaza, or 87% of the population, depend on UNRWA services, which will be reduced in February if the funds are not restored.
What is UNRWA and why was it created?
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was established to provide assistance to an estimated 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from what is now Israel during the 1948 war that followed the creation of the state.
Palestinians say the refugees and their descendants, who now number about 6 million across the Middle East, have the right to return to their homes.
Israel refused because if the right of return were fully implemented it would lead to a Palestinian majority within its borders. The fate of refugees and their descendants was among the thorny issues in the peace process, which was halted in 2009.
UNRWA runs schools, health clinics, infrastructure projects and aid programs in refugee camps that now resemble dense urban neighborhoods in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. It has 13,000 employees in Gaza alone, the vast majority of whom are Palestinians.
In Gaza, where about 85% of the enclave's 2.3 million people have fled their homes, more than a million people have taken refuge in UNRWA schools and other facilities.
What do Israel and other critics say about UNRWA?
Israel accuses UNRWA of turning a blind eye to Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, withdrawing aid intended for civilians and fighting in and around UN facilities, many of which were bombed during the war. It also revealed Hamas tunnels that extend next to or under UNRWA facilities, and accuses the agency of teaching hatred for Israel in its schools.
UNRWA denies these accusations. It says it has no connection to Hamas or any other armed groups, and that it thoroughly investigates any allegations of wrongdoing and holds employees accountable. It says it shares lists of all its employees with Israel and other host countries.
The 12 employees are said to have taken part in the surprise attack on October 7, in which Hamas fighters from Gaza overran Israel's extensive border defences. Other militants joined the subsequent attack on neighboring communities, which left 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians. About 250 others, including children, were captured and dragged to Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Guterres said that nine of the accused UNRWA employees were immediately dismissed, one of them was confirmed dead, and the identity of the other two remains to be determined. He said everyone would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.
The details of the accusations and the evidence supporting them were not announced.
New York times On Monday, local time, it published accusations contained in a file submitted to the United States government that includes details of Israel’s allegations against dozens of agency employees.
UNRWA condemned the October 7 attack and called for the release of all hostages. Earlier this month, before the latest accusations, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini announced an external review of the agency to determine which accusations are “true or not” and “what are politically motivated.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agency should be closed. But his government continued to allow UNRWA to operate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, providing basic services that would otherwise fall to Israel as the occupying power. No other entity will be able to quickly fill the void if UNRWA ceases its operations.
What does cutting funding to Gaza mean?
The United States, which was the first country to suspend its funding, is the largest donor to UNRWA, providing it with $340 million in 2022.
Nine countries – including the United States and Australia – together provided nearly 60 percent of UNRWA's budget in 2022. It was not immediately clear when or how the suspension of aid would impact the agency's day-to-day operations. Norway and Ireland have said they will continue to fund UNRWA, while other donors have not yet made their decision.
The war plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis. One in four Palestinians in the Strip faces the risk of starvation, according to UN officials, who say relief operations are hampered by fighting and Israeli restrictions.
“Our humanitarian operation, on which two million people depend as a lifeline in Gaza, is collapsing,” Lazzarini wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He expressed his shock at countries suspending their aid “based on the alleged behavior of a small number of individuals, and as the war continues, needs are worsening and famine looms on the horizon.”
The war led to the deaths of more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and the injury of more than 64,400 others, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in the death toll, but says that most of the dead were women and children.
The death toll includes more than 150 UNRWA staff, the largest number of aid workers the United Nations has lost in a single conflict.
With AP
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, opinions and expert analysis from Jacqueline Malley. Subscribers can sign up for our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.
