UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday, the 28th of January, pleaded to countries providing aid to continue financial support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) after several countries cut off funding over Israeli accusations that some of its staff participated in the Hamas attack on Israel last October, reports Politico.
António Guterres has claimed that UNRWA’s current funding will not be able to cover it until the end of February.
The UN Secretary-General has stressed that two million civilians in Gaza are affected by the funding cut.
At the same time, he has promised an immediate investigation into the Israeli accusations, stressing that if the accusations were confirmed, there would be consequences.
Guterres has stressed that the actions of a few should not punish tens of thousands of UNWRA staff, many of whom work in dangerous humanitarian settings.
The US, UNWRA’s largest funder, has announced that it will stop funding the agency following Israeli claims. Other countries, including the UK, Italy, Finland, Canada, and Australia, has made similar announcements over the weekend.
Guterres has said that nine of the 12 accused staff members had been fired,
one person had allegedly died and the identities of two others were still being established.
The UN’s internal monitoring service has been investigating allegations of UNWRA staff involvement and an independent review of UNWRA has been launched on the 17th of January. Guterres has stressed that any staff member involved in terrorist acts should be held accountable and that those involved would be prosecuted.
UNWRA, which was founded in 1949 to help Palestinians who had lost their homes, was placed under increased scrutiny following the 7th of October Hamas attacks.
The agency has been providing vital assistance to the people of Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 26 000 Gazan civilians.
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