Aid group calls halt to UNRWA funding 'reckless'

Aid groups operating in Gaza expressed dismay over the decision by some donor countries to suspend funding for the main UN agency operating in the area. They called the move “reckless” at a time when the humanitarian crisis there is rapidly worsening.

The United States and at least eight other countries said in recent days they were suspending funding for the agency, known by its acronym UNRWA, after Israel made accusations that a dozen of its employees played a role in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack . its aftermath. Israeli estimates say at least 1,200 people were killed and about 240 taken hostage in the attacks.

Donations from three of the countries that cut funding – the United States, Germany and Japan – made up almost half of all contributions to the agency in 2022. according to UNRWA.

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, is expected to meet with major donor countries in New York on Tuesday to urge them to keep the organization afloat, his spokesman said. UNRWA leaders have warned that the country has no financial reserves and could run out of money to pay its staff within weeks if donors withhold funding.

The European Union, the largest donor to UNRWA after the United States and Germany, said Monday that it was not suspending funding, but that it would make decisions on future donations based on the outcome of a UN investigation into Israel's allegations. The UN's Internal Oversight Office, the body's top investigative authority, is investigating the allegations about the 12 UNRWA staff members, but no timeline for the investigation has been publicly announced.

This is what twenty aid organizations say, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Save the Children in a joint statement Monday that UNRWA's role in Gaza as the largest humanitarian organization was irreplaceable, and that the suspension of funding could result in a “complete collapse” of the relief effort there.

“The population faces famine, the threat of famine and an outbreak of disease as a result of Israel's continued indiscriminate bombing and deliberate withholding of aid in Gaza,” the groups said.

Doctors Without Borders, which has doctors and staff in Gaza's besieged hospitals, said in his own statement that suspending funding would lead to more death and suffering.

“Humanitarian organizations are already struggling to meet even a fraction of urgent needs in Gaza,” the group said. “Much more help is needed to meet these needs, not less.”

Asked Monday under what circumstances the United States would restore funding to UNRWA, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the Biden administration would look at steps the agency is taking to thoroughly investigate allegations investigate, ensure accountability and take preventive measures. place.

Although the United States did not independently investigate the allegations, Mr. Blinken said they were “very, very credible.”

Israel has presented evidence that an UNRWA employee kidnapped a woman during the October 7 attack and that another took part in a massacre at a kibbutz. The agency has fired nine of the accused; two of them are dead, according to the agency.

Israel has also claimed that about 10 percent of the agency's 13,000 employees in Gaza are Hamas members. UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma said in an interview Tuesday that Israel has not presented this accusation, or any supporting information, to the agency.

“UNRWA is not in possession of the names or any other information about this figure,” Ms Touma said, adding: “We learned about it through the media.”

Michael Crowley And Patrick Kingsley reporting contributed.