UN chief to meet with major donors of Palestinian refugee agency amid funding crisis

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – The UN chief will meet with major donors to the UN's Palestine refugee agency this week amid a funding crisis sparked by allegations that some of its employees in Gaza participated in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will host the meeting at the UN's New York City headquarters on Tuesday afternoon, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

The UN chief has been engaging with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) leadership, as well as regional leaders, amid the controversy.

About half of UNRWA's key donors have halted their funding, and Dujarric said the "outlook for UNRWA, and the millions of people it serves not only in Gaza but also in East Jerusalem in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, is very bleak."

"The critical humanitarian work that the UN does not only in Gaza but all over the region, needs to be supported. People's lives depend on it," he added.

Dujarric said Guterres met earlier Monday with the American UN envoy, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, after Washington suspended its contributions.

UNRWA employs over 13,000 people in Gaza. About a dozen are accused by Israel of participation in the attack. The agency said it terminated contracts with several employees following the allegations.

At least 12 countries – Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Finland, Australia, the UK, Netherlands, the US, France, Austria and Japan – have suspended funds for UNRWA, which was established in 1949 to aid Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

The Israeli accusations came as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday found South Africa's claim that Israel is committing genocide plausible. The court issued an interim order urging Israel to stop obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza and to improve the humanitarian situation.

UNRWA has launched a full investigation into the accusations, and is "taking very seriously all the allegations that have been made," Dujarric said.

Flouting the ICJ’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its war on the Gaza Strip where at least 26,637 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 65,387 others injured since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel estimates that 1,200 people were killed in the October 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.