4 more nations pause funding for U.N. agency as scandal broadens
Britain on Saturday joined the United States in suspending funding for the United Nations agency that provides food, water and essential services for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, many of whom have been described as being on the brink of starvation after 16 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas.
Canada, Australia and Finland also announced that they are suspending funding for the group, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, after a dozen of its employees were accused by Israel of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks.
The United Nations has not made public the details of the accusations against the UNRWA employees, who have been fired, but a senior U.N. official briefed on the accusations called them “extremely serious and horrific.”
The Israeli military said in a statement Saturday that its intelligence services had compiled a case “incriminating several UNRWA employees for their alleged involvement in the massacre, along with evidence pointing to the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist purposes.” It did not elaborate on what the involvement entailed.
Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement Saturday that it was “temporarily pausing any future funding” of the agency while it reviews the allegations.
The United States, the agency’s largest donor, said Friday that it was pausing funding “while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”
Western countries were divided on how to address the accusations. Some, like Germany, expressed concern but did not immediately suspend funding. Others, like Ireland and Norway, said the agency’s work was too important to cut off.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin, who said his government had no plans to curtail funding, wrote on social media that UNRWA’s staff members had provided lifesaving assistance “at incredible personal cost.”
Norway said that accusations against the staff members, if true, were “completely unacceptable” but that the agency was the “most important humanitarian organization” in Gaza and vowed continued support.
“We need to distinguish between what individuals may have done and what UNRWA stands for,” the Norwegian delegation to the Palestinian Authority said on social media.
Israel’s accusations against the 12 U.N. employees are the latest episode of decadeslong friction between Israel and UNRWA.
Israelis say that UNRWA’s existence separate from the wider U.N. refugee protection system prevents Palestinian refugees from setting down roots elsewhere in the Middle East. There have also been regular clashes between Israel and UNRWA over what the agency’s schools teach their students and UNRWA’s relationship with Hamas.
On Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the decisions by the United States and Canada.
Israel aims to ensure that “UNRWA will not be a part of the day after,” Mr. Katz said on social media, referring to the end of the war.