Britain suspends funding for UN aid agency implicated in Oct 7 attack

Foreign Office says it is ‘appalled’ by claims UN workers were involved in Hamas massacre of Israelis

Britain has suspended its funding for the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) after 12 of its employees were accused of taking part in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Foreign Office said it was “appalled” by the claims as it followed the United States, Canada, Australia and Italy in putting its funding on hold.
Israel has vowed to ban the UNRWA from operating in Gaza once the war is over after the agency sacked the workers on Friday.
The head of the UN relief agency has called on countries that have suspended funding to reconsider their “shocking” decision.
Philippe Lazzarini said UNRWA is depended upon by more than two million people for their survival.
Foreign Office documents show Britain has given UNRWA £27 million in aid since October 2022.
A memorandum of understanding between the Foreign Office and UNRWA shows Britain planned to hand it a further £2 million on April 15 and £9 million on October 1 this year.
But the Foreign Office has now said it is “temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations”.
“We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it,” it added.
Robert Jenrick, the former cabinet minister, who had accused ministers of having been “too blasé about who we have funded and for what purpose”, said: “I’m pleased the UK has followed the US in pausing support to UNRWA whilst these allegations are investigated.
“It’s an organisation whose leadership has fallen into a moral morass of complicity with Hamas, turning a blind eye to the terrorists,” he told The Telegraph.
“We need a new mechanism to support the people of Gaza that can drive economic development, demilitarisation and deradicalisation, once Hamas have been eradicated.”
In a statement on Saturday, UNRWA boss Mr Lazzarini said: “It is shocking to see a suspension of funds to the agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff, especially given the immediate action that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and asking for a transparent independent investigation.
“The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the highest investigative authority in the UN system, has already been seized of this very serious matter.”
He added: “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.”
The US state department said on Friday that it had paused its funding “while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them”.
It said allegations had been made against 12 UNRWA employees.
Germany announced on Saturday that it was suspending funding to the agency.
Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s aid minister, said the country was “deeply troubled by the allegations relating to some UNRWA employees”.
Penny Wong, the foreign minister of Australia, said she was “deeply concerned” by the allegations and would “temporarily pause disbursement of recently announced funding” while the allegations are investigated.
Italy has also suspended its funding, with Antonio Tajan, the foreign minister, saying on Saturday morning: “Allied countries have recently made the same decision.”
Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, said the government planned to stop the UNRWA ever operating in Gaza again.
“Under my leadership, the foreign ministry aims to promote a policy ensuring that UNRWA will not be a part of the day after, addressing other contributing factors,” he said.
“We will work to garner bipartisan support in the US, the European Union, and other nations globally for this policy aimed at halting UNRWA’s activities in Gaza.”
Hamas dismissed Israel’s allegations in a statement and urged the UN and other countries to not “cave in to the threats and blackmail”.
The UNRWA said on Friday that Israel had handed over intelligence alleging that a number of its workers were involved in October 7.
Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, had been briefed about the allegations, his spokesperson said.
“The Secretary-General is horrified by this news,” said Stephane Dujarric, adding that “an urgent and comprehensive independent review of UNRWA will be conducted”.
The UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO that scrutinises the work of the UN, earlier this month raised the alarm about alleged Hamas sympathies among multiple UN employees in Gaza.
The group cited hate posts in a Telegram group of about 3,000 UNRWA teachers in Gaza, praising the Hamas attackers as “heroes”.