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Some major donors to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees joined the US And on Saturday, several UNRWA staff announced they would suspend funding following Israeli accusations that they were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attack.
The U.S. State Department announced Friday that it had stopped payments to the group. The United States stressed that “UNRWA plays a critical role in providing life-saving assistance to the Palestinian people, including essential food, medicine, shelter, and other critical humanitarian assistance.” UNRWA is the United Nations humanitarian agency serving the Palestinian people.
The organization announced that it had launched an investigation into allegations from Israel that some of its staff took part in the incident. October 7 attack by Hamas. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said 12 UNRWA employees were accused of participating.
UNWRA chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement on Saturday that nine countries had suspended funding to the agency, threatening “ongoing humanitarian operations across the region, particularly in the Gaza Strip.” He added: “It is inappropriate to sanction entire government agencies and the communities they serve because of allegations of criminal activity against a few individuals, especially during times of war, displacement, and political crisis in the region. “That would be extremely irresponsible,” he added.
Omar El Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
Canada’s International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen also announced Friday that Ottawa has “temporarily suspended additional funding to UNRWA while we conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations.”
In response, UNRWA announced that it had fired several staff members because of Israel’s accusations, and promised to conduct a thorough investigation, although the charges were not detailed. He promised to halt the agency’s activities in the country. U.N. chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General António Guterres had been briefed by Lazzarini and was “appalled by this news and asked Mr. Lazzarini to promptly investigate the matter.”
The countries that suspended funding said the following about the allegations:
Germany announced late Saturday that it would stop funding UNRWA.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday that while UNRWA was delivering “critical and life-saving operations”, Brisbane would “temporarily suspend the disbursement of recent funds”.
“We welcome UNRWA’s immediate action, including terminating the contract and launching an investigation,” he said on social media platform X.
Finland, which had a four-year agreement to contribute 5 million euros ($5.4 million) a year to UNRWA, suspended the payments and called for a “thorough independent investigation” in a Foreign Ministry statement.
“We must ensure that not a single euro of Finnish funds goes to Hamas or other terrorists,” he said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy was among the defunders, adding: “We are fully committed to providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people while safeguarding Israel’s security.”
Switzerland, which contributes about 20 million Swiss francs ($23 million) a year to UNRWA, said on Saturday it would not make a decision on the 2024 payment until the accusations are clarified.
“Switzerland has zero tolerance for any form of support for terrorism or calls for incitement to hatred or violence,” it added.
Dutch Trade and Development Minister Geoffrey van Leeuwen announced a freeze on funding to UNRWA pending an investigation, saying the government was “deeply shocked.”
“The accusation is that the attack was carried out on October 7 with UN funds and with our own funds,” he told public broadcaster NOS on Saturday.
The British government said it was “appalled by Israel’s claims” and would “temporarily suspend further funding” while the Foreign Office reviewed the claims. UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini vowed that any personnel found to have engaged in “acts of terrorism” would be held accountable “including through criminal prosecution.”
Canada’s International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen also announced Friday that Ottawa has “temporarily suspended additional funding to UNRWA while we conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations.”
Mr Dujarric said Mr Guterres had promised to carry out an “urgent and comprehensive independent review of UNRWA”.
Haley Ott contributed to this report.
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