Britain, Italy and Finland on Saturday became the latest countries to cut funding to the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) following allegations that 12 of its staff members were involved in the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel. .
The United States, Australia and Canada had already suspended funding to the aid agency after Israel announced that 12 UNRWA staff were involved in cross-border attacks. The agency has launched an investigation into multiple employees who have severed ties with the agency.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized what it called Israel’s campaign against UNRWA, and the terrorist group Hamas condemned the termination of employee contracts “based on information obtained from Zionist enemies.”
Britain’s Foreign Office announced it would temporarily suspend funding to UNRWA while the charges were considered, noting that London had condemned the October 7 attack as a heinous act of terrorism.
“The Italian government has suspended financing to UNRWA following the brutal attack on Israel on October 7,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on social media X.
Finland also announced that it had stopped funding.
Palestinian Authority panics over UNRWA funding cut
Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the Palestinian umbrella political group Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said aid cuts pose significant political and relief risks.
“We call on the countries that announced the suspension of support to UNRWA to immediately reverse their decisions,” he said at X.