The suspension by several countries of their funding to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, will have “catastrophic consequences” for the Gaza Strip, the heads of several UN organizations warned on Wednesday, on background of Israeli accusations.
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory completely besieged by Israel and in the grip of a major humanitarian crisis, entire neighborhoods were destroyed by bombings which pushed 1.7 million of the 2.4 million inhabitants to flee their homes, according to the UN.
But UNRWA's civilian aid operations have been under threat since last weekend after Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 regional employees of involvement in the bloody October 7 attack carried out by the Palestinian movement Hamas. .
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These accusations are “appalling”, UN leaders said in a joint statement.
“However, we should not prevent an entire organization from fulfilling its mission of serving people who desperately need it.”
The Israeli government accused UNRWA on Tuesday of being "fundamentally compromised", in particular by letting Hamas "use its infrastructure" to carry out its military activities and "hide terrorists".
Prevent possible acts of “genocide”
The agency also “massively hired terrorists” among its 13,000 employees in Gaza, government spokesperson Eylon Levy said in a video.
“About 10%” of employees are members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” the other major Islamist movement in Gaza, and “around 50% are first-degree relatives of these members,” he added.
He did not provide evidence to support these accusations, which the AFP was not able to verify.
The accusations came shortly after a ruling by the International Court of Justice calling on Israel to prevent possible acts of "genocide" and to "take immediate steps" for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
After a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, told reporters that no organization was "capable of replacing or substituting for the enormous capacity and to the fabric of UNRWA”.
Twelve countries announced the suspension of their aid to UNRWA, including the main supporters of Israel (United States, United Kingdom, Germany) but also Japan.
“Crucial” work
“Without this funding, the outlook for UNRWA and the millions of people it helps is very bleak,” Antonio Guterres spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.
UNRWA fired most of the employees involved and promised an investigation.
“Any employee involved in an act of terror will be held responsible,” assured Stéphane Dujarric.
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In Washington, American diplomacy deemed it all the more “important” in this context for a thorough investigation and for measures to be taken “so that this type of thing does not happen again”.
Israel's ally, the United States, also UNRWA's main donor, has acknowledged that the agency's work is "crucial."
“There is no other humanitarian actor in Gaza that can provide food, water and medicine on the same scale as UNRWA,” said the State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller.
According to him, the United States has released “$121 million” for UNRWA since the start of the fiscal year (October 1) and suspended a next payment of $300,000 on Friday.
Washington releases, he specified, between “300 to 400 million dollars per year” for UNRWA.