UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees” has enough funds to keep operating until at least the end of May, its chief told Swiss media on Tuesday, according to AFP.
In January, the US and a host of other countries announced they would temporarily pause funding to UNRWA.
The cuts were announced after Israel said that 12 UNRWA staff had taken part in Hamas’ October 7 attack. Among other things, Israel said those workers kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively taking part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini had warned last month that the funding crunch was so great the organization might not be able to operate beyond March.
Since then, a number of countries resumed or increased their funding to UNRWA, including Spain, Canada and Australia. Last week, Saudi Arabia announced $40 million in funding to UNRWA, that would provide food for more than 250,000 people and tents for 20,000 families.
Lazzarini told Switzerland's Keystone-ATS news agency on Tuesday that "the situation today is less dramatic".
"But we are still working from one month to the next," he said, adding that now "we have funding until the end of May".
While Lazzarini announced that the UN agency had launched an investigation into the employees which Israel said were involved in the October 7 attacks, he has also insisted he had no knowledge of how deep Hamas is involved in UNRWA.
The UNRWA chief has repeatedly accused Israel of "a deliberate and concerted campaign" aimed at ending the agency’s work.