Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said earlier Saturday Confirmed Rome’s decision to cut funding to United Nations agencies. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: made a similar statement He said he was suspending aid to Canberra, adding that he welcomed the UN agency’s decision to investigate the allegations.
Canada and Finland also announced they would suspend aid.
The United States, the largest donor to the U.N. agency, said on Friday it would reduce its funding after Israel submitted evidence through its security services that 12 UNRWA personnel may have been involved in the October 7 attack. has been stopped. The attack left at least 1,200 people dead as Hamas militants rampaged through southern Israel. and took over 250 other people hostage.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said on Saturday that the Israeli government would try to prevent United Nations agencies from operating in Gaza after the war, insisting that UNRWA was “not the solution” and that UNRWA was a joint venture with the militant group Hamas. It claimed that it had been functioning as a private branch. .
The agency announced Friday that it had terminated the contracts of the workers involved and launched an investigation into the allegations.
UNRWA Executive Director Philippe Lazzarini said: “In order to protect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these personnel and to launch an investigation to uncover the truth without delay.” ” he said. Friday’s statement.