Amnesty International urges donors to reverse decision to halt financing

LONDON (AA) – Amnesty International has urged donor countries to reverse their decision to suspend funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following unfounded Israeli allegations, describing it “inhumane” and a “devastating blow” to more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The London-based rights group in a statement urged a dozen donor countries that have suspended funding to UNRWA to reverse their decisions and refrain from cutting off funding to the UN agency that provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees.

“It is deeply shocking – indeed inhumane – that several governments have taken decisions that will cause further suffering to two million Palestinians, who are already facing the risk of genocide and an engineered famine just days after the International Court of Justice ruling concluded that the survival of Palestinians in Gaza is at risk,” said Agnes Callamard, the rights group’s secretary-general.

She stressed that it is “particularly appalling” that such action has been taken over allegations involving only 12 employees out of UNRWA’s total staff of 30,000.

Following Tel Aviv’s recent allegations that some UNRWA staffers may have been involved in the Palestinian group Hamas’ cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, the UN agency said it terminated contracts with several employees.

Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Finland, Australia, the UK, Netherlands, US, France, Austria, and Japan have suspended funding for UNRWA, which was established in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

Norway, Spain, Ireland, Denmark, and Belgium announced that they will not suspend funding.

Israel’s allegations of some UNRWA staffers’ involvement in the October 7 attacks are “serious and must be independently investigated,” Callamard said, noting that the alleged actions of a few individuals “must not be used as a pretext” for cutting off life-saving assistance, which could amount to collective punishment.

“It is disgraceful that instead of heeding the ICJ’s ruling, and the court’s finding that the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is at serious risk of deteriorating further, key states, including the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, and France have cut off funding to the main provider of aid for civilians in Gaza,” she said.