UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees may halt work if funding not resumed

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, will terminate if donors do not resume funding, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said Thursday, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

It said Lazzarini voiced those concerns in a telephone discussion with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin.

"Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini informed about the immediate measures taken to investigate and clarify all the circumstances of the incident, assured that if suspicions are confirmed, all those responsible will be punished," it said.

At the same time, it was stressed that if donors do not reconsider their decision to halt funding, all agency activities, including in the humanitarian disaster-stricken Gaza Strip, will be stopped.

At least 18 countries, along with the EU, suspended funding for UNRWA based on Israel's allegations that 12 staff members were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks by Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

The UN agency launched an investigation last week of the allegations.

Vershinin emphasized that suspicions against 12 agency employees cannot and should not be used to collectively punish the entire UN structure, pointing out that the agency's staff in Gaza numbers 13,000 employees, as well as almost 6 million Palestinians living in the occupied territories and neighboring Arab countries.

He noted that for 75 years, UNRWA has been assisting Palestinian refugees not only in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip but also in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Vershinin highlighted that assistance was funded mainly through voluntary contributions from donors.

The funds are needed to implement projects in education, health and social services for 5.9 million refugees, he said.

Israel has mounted a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since a surprise attack by Haman on Oct. 7. The Israeli onslaught has killed at least 27,019 Palestinians and injured 66,139. About 1,200 Israelis are believed to 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 has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.