France suspends funding for UN agency for Palestinians over Israeli allegations

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - France on Sunday announced that it is pausing funding to the UN agency for Palestinians or UNRWA after Israeli allegations that some of the agency’s employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Describing the allegations as "exceptionally serious," the French Foreign Ministry said: "We expect the investigations launched in recent days to shed full light on past events, and to be accompanied by concrete measures to be implemented rapidly."

The ministry stressed that France "considerably" increased humanitarian support to Gazans amid the current "catastrophic humanitarian situation" in Gaza – due to months of Israeli attacks and a blockade restricting aid deliveries – which includes nearly €60 million ($65 million) contribution to the UN agency’s actions in 2023.

"France has no plans to make a further payment in the first quarter of 2024, and will decide when the time comes what to do in conjunction with the United Nations and the main donors, ensuring that all its requirements for aid transparency and security are taken into account," it added.

So far, the US, Italy, Australia, Canada, Britain, and Finland have all decided to suspend funding to UN agency.

Flouting an International Court of Justice provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 65,087 others injured since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel says nearly 1,200 people have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.