Published January 28, 2024
- Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of participating in Hamas’s October 7 attack
- Several countries have paused funding to the UN agency that provides health, aid, shelter and education services to the millions of Palestinians in Gaza
The UN aid agency whose staff are accused of taking part in the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel has said the decision by Britain, the US and others to pause their funding ‘will have serious repercussions in Gaza‘.
Several countries have paused funding for UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) following allegations by Israel that 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza were involved in the attack which killed around 1,200 people and led to 250 others being kidnapped.
In a dossier, which has not been published but has been handed to governments and news organisations, Israel says UNRWA staff took part in killings, kidnappings and arming terrorists during raids on settlements in southern Israel last year.
Britain, the US, Canada and Australia have been joined by EU members including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria in pausing the funding for the agency which provides health, aid, shelter and education services to the millions of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The United Nations has urged the countries to reconsider the pause in funding, pledging that any staff found involved in the Hamas attack would be punished and warning that aid for some two million people in Gaza was at stake.
Juliette Touma, Director of Communications at UNRWA, said the funding pause will have serious repercussions for people in Gaza, and has warned that the agency would be forced to stop its support in the territory by the end of February.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: UK working with other Gaza charities amid UN relief agency pause, No 10 says
No further funding has been scheduled in the short term for UN’s relief agency in Gaza regardless of the suspension of support.
Published January 28, 2024
No further funding has been scheduled in the short term for UN’s relief agency in Gaza regardless of the suspension of support, the Government has said.
It comes after the UK joined the US, Australia, Italy and other countries in pausing funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after it sacked a number of its staff who were accused of taking part in the October 7 attack on Israel.
The funding will be stopped while an investigation takes place, but it has sparked concerns about the impact the decision will have on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the Israeli bombardment continues.
Juliette Touma, director of communications at UNRWA, said a continued suspension of funding for the agency would have “very, very serious repercussions”.
“We are extremely desperate. It has come at a time when the humanitarian needs in Gaza are growing by the hour,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Downing Street said £16 million has been given to the agency since the Hamas incursion into Israel in October, which sparked the current conflict.
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SOURCE: www.shropshirestar.com
RELATED: Israel-Hamas war: UNRWA may be forced to end lifesaving aid due to funding suspension, official says
Published January 28, 2024
What we know
- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has fired 12 aid workers accused of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, and has launched an investigation. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said yesterday that he was “horrified” by the allegations and that those found to have been involved would be referred for potential criminal prosecution.
- Germany, Australia, Finland, Italy and the U.K. joined the U.S. and Canada today in suspending funding to the agency. UNRWA employs about 13,000 Palestinians and runs schools and shelters and distributes aid across Gaza.
- Houthis fired at a U.S. warship for the first time yesterday, as well as a British oil tanker. The U.K. said it reserves “the right to respond appropriately,” along with its allies. In a pre-dawn strike today, the U.S. said, it destroyed an anti-ship ballistic missile that was aimed at the Red Sea and ready to launch, and Houthis reported U.S. raids in the port city of Al-Hudaydah.
- CIA Director William Burns is set to meet with Qatar’s prime minister and the director of Mossad this weekend in an effort to break a deadlock in talks for a new hostage deal with Hamas.
- The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians, but stopped short of demanding a cease-fire. South Africa, which brought the case to the ICJ, called yesterday’s interim ruling a “decisive victory” toward justice for Palestinians. Israel called the implication it is perpetuating genocide “false” and “outrageous.”
- More than 26,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 64,400 have been injured, and thousands more are missing and presumed dead.
- Israeli military officials said at least 220 soldiers have been killed during the ground invasion of Gaza. About 1,200 people were killed and about 240 hostages were taken after Hamas launched multipronged attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
- NBC News’ Raf Sanchez, Matt Bradley, Anna Schecter, Chantal Da Silva and Ali Arouzi are reporting from the region.
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SOURCE: www.nbcnews.com
