UK to pause funding for key UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees | Israel-Gaza war
The UK is to pause funding for the UN’s key aid agency for Palestinian refugees after allegations that several of its employees took part in Hamas’s 7 October attacks in Israel last year.
The announcement comes after the US state department said it would provide no additional funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency until the allegations were addressed. Australia, Italy and Canada have also paused funding for the agency.
A statement from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “The UK is appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK government has repeatedly condemned.
“The UK is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations. We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it.”
On Friday, UNRWA launched an investigation into several employees accused of taking part in the 7 October attacks and said it had severed ties with those workers.
The agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, said: “The Israeli authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on 7 October.”
“To protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay.”
Information leading to the investigation is thought to have been gathered by Israeli intelligence services, which are also reported to have found evidence that the agency’s vehicles and facilities may have been used during the 7 October attack.
UNRWA has been under pressure since the beginning of the conflict, with Israeli officials alleging complicity with Hamas. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and others have accused the agency of fuelling anti-Israeli sentiments, allegations it denies.
The secretary general of the UN, António Guterres, was horrified by the allegations, his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said.
UNRWA, which was established in 1949 after the first Arab-Israeli war, provides services including schooling, primary healthcare and humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
