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The head of the UN's main Palestinian aid agency, UNRWA, is visiting three Gulf states this week to raise money after donors suspended funding following Israeli allegations that some of the agency's staff were involved in the October 7 attack.
The visit comes after UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini told the Financial Times that Israel had not presented evidence of its allegations to the agency, adding that it had been forced to respond to media leaks of an Israeli intelligence assessment that at least 12 of its Palestinian employees had participated in the Hamas raid.
While the US has said it finds Israel's claims "very credible", the Financial Times reported that it had seen the Israeli intelligence assessment and offered no evidence for the claims.
About 15 of UNRWA's most important donors, including the US, have suspended funding after Israel claimed 12 of the agency's 13,000 staff were involved in the October 7 attacks.
UNRWA warned last week that it may be forced to close its operations by the end of February if funding is not resumed.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced today that an independent review of UNRWA's ability to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations of violations will be led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna.
"The cooperation of the Israeli authorities, who made these allegations, will be critical to the success of the investigation ," Guterres said in a statement.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X that he met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan today to discuss UNRWA's work in "maintaining stability in the region " and providing aid to two million people in Gaza.
Spokeswoman Juliette Touma told Reuters that Mr Lazzarini would visit Qatar and Kuwait later this week.
" We hope that those who have stopped (funding) will reconsider and others will also step forward ," she said.
Kuwait and Qatar are ranked 19th and 20th on UNRWA's list of top 20 donors, giving $12 million and $10.5 million respectively in 2022.
Founded in 1949, UNRWA provides education, health and relief services to millions of Palestinians throughout Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. In Gaza, it provides shelter to an estimated one million people displaced by the Israel-Gaza conflict.
While some private donors and countries like Spain have stepped up to provide additional aid, Touma said it was not nearly enough to make up the gap, estimated at around $440 million./ SkyNews
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