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LONDON (Reuters) – Six European countries on Saturday suspended funding for the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) after some of its staff were suspected of involvement in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. did.
Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland on Saturday joined the United States, Australia and Canada in suspending funding to aid agencies, a key source of support for people in the Gaza Strip, following Israel’s claims. did.
UNRWA Executive Director Philippe Lazzarini told X: “Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This taints us all.”
The agency announced Friday that it had opened an investigation into several employees and had severed ties with them.
Israeli Foreign Minister encourages further donor suspensions Israel Katz UNRWA should be replaced once the fighting in the enclave ends, he said, accusing it of links to Islamic extremists in Gaza.
“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. .”
Lazzarini said the decision by the nine countries threatens humanitarian efforts across the region, particularly in Gaza.
“The suspension of funding to the agency in response to allegations against a small number of staff is shocking, especially given that UNRWA took immediate action to terminate its contract and call for a transparent and independent investigation.” ,” he said in a statement. .
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized what it called Israel’s campaign against UNRWA, and Hamas accused it of terminating employee contracts “based on information obtained from Zionist enemies.”
Government agencies play a major role in aid to Gaza
UNRWA was established to help 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.
Lazzarini announced the investigation on Friday and said he had decided to terminate the contracts of some employees to protect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian aid.
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.
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 expect Mr. Lazzarini to make it clear that all forms of hatred and violence are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated within UNRWA staff,” 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 Sterling in Amsterdam, Thomas Escritt in Berlin and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by William MacLean, Andrew Cawthorn, Frances Kelly, Nick McPhee)
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