UNRWA cannot be 'replaced or substituted', says Gaza aid co-ordinator

Sigrid Kaag's remarks came as UN chief met 36 donor countries to discuss funding for agency

An UNRWA vehicle drives past displaced Palestinians walking near the Egyptian border in Rafah. EPA

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

A senior UN aid official said on Tuesday that UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, cannot be “replaced or substituted”, following Israeli allegations that staff members were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.

“It's very critical that we recognise the central role that UNRWA plays in the Gaza Strip in the delivery of humanitarian aid and prior, of course, to the conflict, when schools were open or the clinics were open,” Sigrid Kaag, senior humanitarian and reconstruction co-ordinator for Gaza, told reporters following a closed door meeting of the UN Security Council.

She added that “there is no way any organisation can replace or substitute tremendous capacity, the fabric of UNRWA the ability and their knowledge of the population in Gaza”.

Several countries, including the US, Britain, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Japan, have suspended funding to the UN agency following accusations that some staff members were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Israel has accused the UN agency of bias and pledged to end its operations in Gaza after the war.

Ms Kaag told reporters that she had shared her observations and recommendations during her briefing to the council, highlighting the logistics of Gaza supply routes and the distribution process, as well as creating a supportive environment and a UN aid oversight mechanism.

Why are western countries cutting funding to UNRWA? – video

“This is not about counting [aid] trucks. This is about volume, quality, speed and continuous delivery of humanitarian and commercial goods to reach the civilians of Gaza,” she said.

“And the mechanism, when up and running, can really help facilitate that.”

Ms Kaag's remarks came as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was preparing to meet 36 donor countries to discuss UNRWA funding.

Also speaking to reporters, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that “there has to be accountability for anyone who participated in this attack on October 7".

She further added that the US has reached out to Israel to “seek more information about these allegations" and welcomed the decision by the UN to conduct an investigation and an independent assessment and review of UNRWA.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that every year UNRWA provides a list of its 13,000 staff in Gaza to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

“As far as I’m told by UNRWA, concerns have not been raised when the list of staff have been shared,” he said.

100 days of Israel Gaza war – in pictures

Palestinian Muhammad Al Durra with his children in the ruins of a house in Rafah where they sheltered on January 11, 2024. EPA

Family and friends at the funerals of journalists Hamza Al Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya on January 7, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. Getty Images

Palestinians mourn relatives killed by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip outside a mortuary in Khan Younis January 4, 2024. AP Photo

Displaced Palestinians queue to bake bread at a camp in the Muwasi area of Rafah, Gaza Strip, on December 23, 2023. AP Photo

Palestinians queue for food in Rafah, the Gaza Strip, on December 20, 2023. AP Photo

The ruins of Rafah on December 14, 2023. AFP

Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip arrive at a hospital in Khan Younis on December 8, 2023. AP Photo

Palestinians flee Israeli bombing along the Salaheddine Road in the Zeitoun district of Gaza city on November 28, 2023. AFP

A Red Cross vehicle takes Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip into Egypt in Rafah on November 25, 2023. AP

The ruins of buildings in Gaza city on November 24, 2023, as a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas took effect. AP Photo

A woman and her cat return home to eastern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip during the first hours of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas forces on November 24, 2023. AFP

Mourning the dead of Israeli bombardment outside the mortuary at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on November 14, 2023. AFP

Civilians and rescuers look for survivors in the rubble of a building after Israeli bombing of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 12, 2023. AFP

November 7, 2023, a month to the day after Hamas attacked Israel, a victim of an Israeli bombardment in Rafah is moved from the rubble. AFP

Searching the rubble after Israeli air strikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on October 26, 2023. AP Photo

Mourning the Kotz family at their funeral in Gan Yavne, Israel, on October 17, 2023. AP Photo

An Israeli firefighter composes himself after he and his colleagues extinguished cars set on fire by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on October 9, 2023. AP Photo

Palestinians with the wreckage of an Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of the city of Khan Younis on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas forces swept unopposed into Israel. AP Photo

Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. AP Photo

Ms Thomas Greenfield stressed that Washington needs to see “fundamental changes” before funding to UNRWA can resume.

“We need to look at the organisation, how it operates in Gaza, how they manage their staff and to ensure that people who commit criminal acts, such as these 12 individuals, are held accountable immediately so that UNRWA can continue the essential work that it's doing,” she said.

At the same time, the US envoy said "UNRWA plays a critical – critical – role in providing life-saving assistance to Palestinians, including essential food and medicine, shelter and other vital humanitarian support. ”

"They've literally saved thousands of lives, and it's unfortunate that this information has raised some doubts about UNRWA."