Major donor countries to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have withdrawn funds following allegations that staff were involved in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, is urging countries to reconsider stopping their donations. He is pleading for donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of the UN aid agency in Gaza. Currently, the United States, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Britain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Finland, and Japan have paused funding.

The UNRWA, with 13,000 employees in Gaza, is the primary organization supporting the population. Over two million of the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people rely on the UNRWA for their “sheer survival,” including essential needs such as food and shelter, said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general.

“Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment,” Lazzarini said.

Famine is looming in Gaza as a result of nearly four months of relentless Israeli bombardment, which has claimed the lives of more than 26,000 people. In December 2023, the UNRWA warned that 40 percent of its population was “at risk of famine.”

Guterres emphasized that the “dire needs of the desperate populations” served by UNRWA “must be met.”

On Friday, the UNRWA announced an investigation into 12 staff members suspected of involvement in the October 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas. The organization has severed ties with these staff members. The UN chief confirmed that nine out of the 12 accused UNRWA staff members have been terminated. One is confirmed dead, and the identities of the other two are being clarified.

Guterres has vowed to hold to account “any UN employee involved in acts of terror,” including possible criminal prosecution.

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