New Zealand to make annual payment to UNRWA 'on schedule, in coming days'

By Necva Tastan

ISTANBUL (AA) - New Zealand on Friday announced that the country will be making its annual payment of $1 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) "on schedule and in the coming days."

"This follows careful consideration of the UN’s response - including through external & internal investigations - to serious allegations against certain UNRWA staff being involved in the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel," Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, said on X.

"It also reflects assurances received from the UN Secretary-General about remedial work underway to enhance UNRWA’s neutrality," Peters added.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last Oct. 7 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah which began on May 6.