UK, Italy, Finland suspend funding to UN refugee agency during Gaza conflict after suspected Hamas attack

Britain, Italy and Finland on Saturday became the latest countries to cut funding to the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) following its staff’s alleged involvement in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

UNRWA was established to assist refugees from the 1948 war during the founding of Israel, and provides education, medical and aid services to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It helps about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people and has played a vital aid role in the current war.

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 militant 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 “heinous” 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.

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.