UN experts condemn any efforts to delegitimize UN agency for Palestinian refugees as whole

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Amid Israeli allegations and funding cuts, UN experts on Friday condemned in the "strongest possible terms any efforts to delegitimise" the UN agency for Palestinians or UNRWA as a whole.

"The grossly disproportionate decision to suspend funding by some of the largest donor states defies the basic principle of humanity, and goes against states’ commitment to leave no one behind," the UN experts said in a statement.

"Denying basic human necessities, life-saving medical care, food, shelter, and antenatal care for pregnant women, is not just indefensible – it is a hindrance to the already complex journey toward peace," they underscored.

So far, the US, Germany, UK, Australia, Austria, Italy, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Romania, Sweden, and Switzerland have all announced the suspension of funding for the agency over Israeli allegations that some of its staffers were involved in Palestinian group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

"These (funding cut) announcements come at an existential moment for over two million Palestinians in Gaza enduring catastrophic living conditions due to Israel’s large-scale military attack that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) considers a plausible genocide," the experts underlined, referring to an interim world court ruling last month.

They added: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms any efforts to delegitimise UNRWA as a whole."

They called on states to rally around the agency, urging leading donors to maintain their support.

"We agree with the Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee that no other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need," they stated.

The agency said it terminated contracts with several employees following the Israeli allegations and launched an internal investigation.

Israel has killed more than 27,000 people in the Gaza Strip in response to the Oct. 7 cross-border offensive by Hamas, which took the lives of 1,200 people and took 240 as hostages. The military onslaught has caused mass displacement and destruction and created conditions ripe for famine.