Gazans lamented yesterday the suspension of funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees by several donor countries over after Israel charged that some UNRWA staff took part in Hamas’s October first week storming.
The agency has fired several staff over Israel’s accusations and promised a thorough investigation into these claims, which were not specified.
Several countries, including the US, France, Britain, Germany and Japan, have announced the suspension of further funding to the agency.
In the southern city of Rafah, where 1.5mn displaced people have taken refuge, Gazans said that the support they received from the agency amounted to a lifeline.
“We live on aid from UNRWA. If it stopped, we would die of hunger, and no one would look at us,” said Sabah Musabih, 50.
Amal Abdel Moneim, a refugee from Gaza City in the north, said there were no other organisations offering help. “Our people are supported by no one except UNRWA,” he said.
“If UNRWA stops supporting us, our people will be lost and dead.” Israel’s relentless military offensive has killed at least 26,637 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry in the territory.
Israel has vowed to stop the agency’s work in Gaza after the war. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said yesterday he had cancelled a meeting with UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini scheduled for later in the week.
“Lazzarini should draw conclusions and resign,” Katz posted on X, formerly Twitter.
A group of 20 aid organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and ActionAid, said in a joint statement that they were “outraged” at the suspension of funding to the agency.
An UNRWA source said that the suspension of funding announced by several countries had yet to have an effect on the ground.