UN Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths on Saturday night responded to the decision of a host of countries to cut funding to UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, over allegations that several of its employees took part in Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel.
“The people of Gaza have been enduring unthinkable horrors and deprivation for close to four months. Their needs have never been higher - and our humanitarian capacity to assist them has never been under such threat,” Griffiths said in a statement posted to X.
“We need to be at full stretch to give the people of Gaza a moment of hope. Now is not the time to let them down,” he added.
The United States announced on Friday it has temporarily paused funding to UNRWA following allegations that 12 of its employees may have been involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
"The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Washington’s announcement came after UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini announced that the UN agency has launched an investigation into the employees who were allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks, adding it has severed ties with those staff members.
On Saturday, Britain, Finland, Canada, and Australia announced their decision to follow the US' lead.
Later, Germany, Scotland, and the Netherlands also announced that they would suspend funding for UNRWA.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Saturday evening called on Lazzarini to resign his position, after Lazzarini wrote a post on X in which he called on the countries which froze their funding to UNRWA to resume donations.