UNRWA able to continue its work for now, UN says

Palestinian refugee aid agency warned it could run out of money by Thursday after donors paused funding over claims workers were involved in October 7 Hamas attacks

Palestinians rest along the road after crossing from the northern Gaza Strip into the south of Gaza city. EPA

The UN said on Thursday that the aid agency for Palestinian refugees has sufficient funds to maintain its operations for now, but stressed the urgency of lifting the funding suspension to prevent an imminent halt in its services in the Gaza Strip as the organisation teeters on the brink of financial collapse.

UNRWA had previously warned it could run out of money by Thursday after more than a dozen countries last month paused funding worth about $450 million over allegations that 12 workers in Gaza had participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel.

“We believe that it's urgent for the suspension of funds to end for it to continue to function because soon, we're essentially on the brink of UNRWA not being able to provide services,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary general, told The National.

“But as of right now, it is continuing to provide services.”

Two UN investigations into Israel’s allegations against the agency are under way, but the European Commission, the third biggest donor to UNRWA after the US and Germany, has demanded a separate audit and wants to appoint experts to carry it out.

The UN Secretary General's spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), whose mandate is to investigate breaches of staff regulations and rules, sent an interim report on Wednesday to Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Mr Dujarric said the OIOS have so far reviewed information and communications technology data held by UNRWA, including email records as well information received from various sources.

They have also been in communication with other Member States to obtain any information relevant to the investigation, he said, adding the investigation remains ongoing and OIOS staff are planning to visit Israel soon to "obtain information from Israeli authorities that may be relevant to the investigation".

UNRWA's director of communications Juliette Touma told The National that the agency has managed to pay salaries for this month but "are now working on March".

"We don't know what will happen beyond March," she added.

Humanitarian aid groups appealed to the EU and UN member states to release funding to UNRWA.

“It is important to ensure a thorough investigation into the grave allegations by the Israeli authorities that 12 UNRWA employees directly participated in the attacks on October 7, and to ensure full transparency and accountability going forward,” read a statement from the organisations.

“The investigation and any subsequent accountability measures must not derail the critical, life-saving work of UNRWA in Gaza and throughout the region.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he intends to force the closure of UNRWA after the Gaza war.

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