GAZA, (PIC)
Several key donor countries suspended funding to UNRWA on Saturday following Israeli claims that a dozen of the agency’s staff took part in the October 7 operation against Israel.
According to different media reports, the US, Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Britain and Scotland have halted funding to the agency, whose facilities, where displaced Palestinians sought shelter, have been repeatedly exposed to deadly attacks by the Israeli occupation army.
These donor countries took such a step without waiting for the results of an investigation launched into the Israeli claims.
On Friday, UNRWA said it had fired several employees and that it had opened an investigation into the allegations.
“Suspension of funds threatens humanitarian work in the region, especially in Gaza,” UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement late on Saturday, urging countries that froze funding to “reconsider their decisions” as Gaza faces the risk of mass starvation.
