UN Says Defunding UNRWA May Trigger Aid System Collapse in Gaza

Top United Nations (UN) officials have warned that the defunding of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) could lead to the "collapse of the humanitarian system."

They voiced their concerns following the allegations that some of its employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, which the UN said they have already dismissed from work, the BBC reported.

As a result of the allegations, UNRWA warned that it would virtually cease to exist by the end of February if funding would not be resumed.

UN Says Defunding UNRWA May Trigger Aid System Collapse in Gaza — *(Photo: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)*

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added that a full independent investigation into UNRWA is underway. He also met over 30 donor states on Tuesday (Jan. 30) and was reported to have urged those who have withdrawn funding to reconsider.

"The allegations of involvement of several UNRWA staff in the heinous attacks on Israel on 7 October are horrifying," a statement by the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee said. "Withdrawing funds from UNRWA is perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences in the occupied Palestinian territory and across the region."

UNRWA also stated on Tuesday that the agency was irreplaceable as it has the "knowledge" of the population of Gaza.

Israeli, US Responses

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier described UNRWA as "perforated with Hamas," saying that his country's intelligence apparatus "discovered" that at least 13 UNRWA workers "directly or indirectly" participated in the Hamas attack.

Meanwhile, the United States, the biggest UNRWA donor prior to Washington's recent decision to cut funding due to the agency's Hamas connection, said it wanted to see the agency continue its work.

"There is no other humanitarian player in Gaza who can provide food and water and medicine at the scale that UNRWA does," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. "We want to see that work continued which is why it is so important that the United Nations take this matter seriously, that they investigate, that there is accountability for anyone who is found to have engaged in wrongdoing."