Nations withdraw funding from UNRWA

The United Nations worries about donor collapse as several countries - including the United States, the UK, and Germany - withdraw funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after UN workers are accused of aiding in the Hamas attack on Israel in early October.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

At least nine countries have withdrawn funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East following allegations that 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel.

The United States, Germany, and Britain are among the nations that have paused their funding to the aid agency, which is one of the largest United Nations programmes. UNRWA was established as a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly on 8 December 1949 and became operational the following year.

Other countries pausing funding include Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, Japan and the Netherlands.

UNRWA operates in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, to help Palestinian refugees in the areas of education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance.

On Monday, the Agency said it would not be able to continue operations in Gaza and across the region beyond the end of February if funding were not resumed.

Staff terminated for alleged 7 October involvement

"If the funding is not resumed," a UNRWA spokesperson said, the agency "will not be able to continue its services and operations across the region, including in Gaza, beyond the end of February."

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, appealed to the donor countries that have withdrawn their support, stressing the agency and Palestinians should not be penalized for the alleged acts of a dozen staff members.

Nine UNRWA staff, the UN chief said, have thus far been terminated for possible involvement in the October 7 Hamas attack.

Secretary General Guterres insisted that any UN employee involved in acts of terror would be held accountable and criminally prosecuted. He also underscored that the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services, the UN's highest investigative structure, has been asked to investigate.

Israel’s foreign ministry has stated that when the conflict is over, the UNRWA will play no role in Gaza.

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