ISTANBUL

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned Sunday that the suspension of funding would lead to halt of its lifesaving aid to Palestinians.

“UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over 2 million people depending on it for their sheer survival,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philip Lazzarini said in a statement.

“Many are hungry as the clock is ticking towards a looming famine. The Agency runs shelters for over 1 million people and provides food and primary healthcare even at the height of the hostilities.”

Several Western countries, including the US, UK, Italy, Australia and Canada, have suspended funding to UNRWA following claims by Israel on Friday that agency staffers were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

UNRWA said it terminated contracts with several employees following the Israeli allegations.

Lazzarini termed the decision to suspend funding for the UN refugee agency as “shocking”.

“It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an Agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region,” he said.

“I urge countries who have suspended their funding to re-consider their decisions before UNRWA is forced to suspend its humanitarian response,” he said. “The lives of people in Gaza depend on this support and so does regional stability.”

The Israeli accusations are not the first of their kind. Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel has accused UNRWA employees of working for Hamas, in what was considered a “justification” for attacking the organization’s schools and facilities in the strip, which houses tens of thousands of displaced people, according to analysts.

The accusations came as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday found South Africa's claim that Israel is committing genocide plausible. The court issued an interim order urging Israel to stop obstructing aid deliveries into Gaza and to improve the humanitarian situation.

Flouting the ICJ’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 65,087 others injured since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel says nearly 1,200 people have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala