Britain, Finland and Australia on Saturday became the latest countries to freeze additional funding to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees after it fired a dozen of its employees accused by Israel of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks.
The two joined the United States and Canada, which said late Friday that they would temporarily pause additional funding to the body, known by the acronym UNRWA. Other major donors, including Germany and the European Union, expressed concern but did not immediately suspend funding.
The United States has been the biggest donor by a large margin, providing the agency with several hundred million dollars in 2023 and $340 million in 2022. Australia, Britain, Canada and Finland together contributed more than $66 million that year, according to the agency.
It was not immediately clear what effect the decisions, which come as the United Nations’ highest court said Friday that Israel must take action to prevent acts of genocide by its forces, would have on UNRWA’s operations. The agency has long been a vital lifeline in the Gaza Strip, which has grown increasingly desperate as Israel pursues a military campaign there in an attempt to eradicate Hamas.
None of the donor countries specified for how long they would pause the funding.
On Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the decisions by the United States and Canada, and called for UNRWA to stop its work in Gaza after Israel’s military campaign there was over.
Israel aims to ensure that “UNRWA will not be a part of the day after,” Katz said on social media, referring to the end of the war. He added that he would seek support for the goal from EU, the United States and other countries.
This past week, Israel made accusations to the United Nations that the employees had helped plan and had participated in the cross-border assault that the country says left 1,200 people dead and more than 240 taken hostage. A senior U.N. official briefed on the accusations against the employees said they were “extremely serious and horrific.”
Neither Israel nor the United Nations released any further details Saturday.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, said in a statement Friday that any employee involved in acts of terrorism would be “held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
Hamas slammed UNRWA for firing the employees before completing its internal investigation and alleged it was overstepping its mandate to provide services to Palestinians.
“UNRWA has been subjected to blackmail by countries that support Zionist terrorism under the pretext of continued financial support,” the Palestinian armed group said.
Canada’s minister of international development, Ahmed Hussen, said in a statement that the country was conferring with other donors on the issue and had “temporarily paused any additional funding” to UNRWA while the agency investigates the allegations.
Britain said that it was “appalled” by the allegations against UNRWA staff members and that it was pausing funding during a review. “We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it,” the British Foreign Ministry said.
UNRWA has for decades provided an array of social services for the people of Gaza, who have been under a long-standing Israeli blockade. The agency builds and operates schools, shelters and medical clinics and employs some 13,000 people, mostly Palestinians.
The demand for and dependence on its services have sharply increased since Israel’s campaign in Gaza began, displacing more than 80% of the enclave’s civilians and disrupting basic supplies of food, water and medical services.
In a notable show of support for UNRWA, Ireland said it had no plans to suspend the agency’s “vital Gaza work.” Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin wrote on social media that the agency’s staff members had worked to “provide life saving assistance” in Gaza “at incredible personal cost,” with over 150 killed since the start of the war.
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