The US envoy to the UN said on Tuesday that Washington needed to see “fundamental changes” before aid to UNRWA could resume, following Israeli accusations that some of the agency's staff were involved in a Hamas attack on October 7.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, welcomed the UN's decision to conduct an investigation and review of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
He said, “We need to look at those organizations, how they operate in Gaza, how they manage their staff and to ensure that people who commit criminal acts, like these 12 people, are immediately held accountable so that UNRWA can continue the important role that they play .”
Israel's accusations prompted many countries to stop funding assistance to the agency. An Israeli intelligence document, seen by the Reuters news agency, contains allegations that several staff took part in the kidnapping and killing in the October 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
The dossier accuses around 190 UNRWA employees of being members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. Palestinians accused Israel of falsifying information to smear UNRWA, and said it had fired several staff and was investigating the allegations.
Earlier on Tuesday, the UN Security Council expressed concern about the “dire and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation” in the Gaza Strip and urged all parties to work with Sigrid Kaag, the UN's senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.
The 15-member council's statement came after Kaag briefed the body behind closed doors for the first time since he was appointed about a month ago.
Kaag said nothing could replace UNRWA's humanitarian role, which runs schools, health clinics and other services in Gaza, as well as distributing aid.
“No organization can replace UNRWA's extraordinary capacity, structure, capabilities and knowledge of the population in Gaza,” Kaag told reporters after briefing the Security Council. (ns/ka)