Aid agency chief ‘cautiously optimistic’, warns ‘risk of death’

The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said he was cautiously optimistic some donors would start funding it again within weeks, warning it was “at risk of death” after Israel alleged some of its staff took part in the Oct 7 Hamas attack.

“I am cautiously optimistic that within the next few weeks, and also following the publication of Catherine Colonna’s report, a number of donors will return,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, said in an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RTS that was aired on Saturday.

He was referring to an independent review of the agency launched under French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna. The final report is expected to be published next month.

Lazzarini told RTS that UNRWA was at “risk of death, at risk of dismantlement”.

UNRWA, which provides aid and essential services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and across the region, has been in crisis since Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza of involvement in the Oct 7 attack on Israel that triggered the conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

The allegations prompted several countries to pause funding.

Canada and Sweden announced they were resuming their funding for the agency, which Israel described as a “serious mistake”.

When the allegations emerged, UNRWA dismissed some staff members, saying it acted to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, and an independent internal UN investigation was launched.

“The return to funding UNRWA will not change the fact that the organization is part of the problem and will not be part of the solution in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.