NEW YORK: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet and discuss with the main donors of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees amid the financial crisis caused by the suspension of funding by some Western countries over Israel’s accusations against some of the agency’s staff.
Stephane Dujarric, the UN spokesman, told reporters in New York that Guterres will host the meeting of donor countries at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Iran news agency (IRNA) reported.
Several Western countries, not least the United States and Britain, have suspended funding for UNRWA following unproven allegations by the Israeli regime that some of the agency’s staff were involved in Operation Al-Aqsa Storm of October 7, 2023.
A senior UN official announced that an investigation is launched after Israeli authorities provided information regarding the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the October 7 operation.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, said in a statement that it would immediately terminate the contracts of staff if found involved in the Hamas operation.
A spokesperson of UNRWA has warned that the agency will not be able to continue its activities and services throughout the region, including Gaza, after the end of February if funding is cut off.
According to the UNRWA spokesperson, the UN chief has been in contact with the agency’s top officials as well as regional leaders.
The UN spokesperson said the vital humanitarian work that the UN is doing not only involve refugees in Gaza but across the region.
The defunding of UNRWA has sparked condemnations from many countries, including Iran that say the agency is a lifeline for over two million people in the besieged Gaza Strip and such a move by the West is an endorsement of war crimes and genocide being committed by the Israeli regime.
The UN and Palestinian officials have already called for continued funding for UNRWA’s humanitarian work in Gaza where around 150 employees working for international institutions including UNRWA have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war. -Bernama-IRNA
