TEL AVIV: Israel vowed Saturday to stop the UN agency at the heart of humanitarian efforts in Gaza from operating after the war following the sacking of staff over accusations they were involved in the October 7 attack.
Donors including Australia, Canada and Italy have followed the lead of the United States, which said it had suspended additional funding to the agency over the accusations.
"UNRWA will not be a part of the day after," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that he was trying to gather support from the United States, European Union and other major donors to the agency.
Relations between Israel and UNRWA deteriorated in recent days, with the UN agency saying tank shelling had hit a shelter for displaced people in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Yunis.
The agency said tens of thousands of displaced people had been registered at the shelter and Wednesday's tank shelling killed 13 people.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli army said "a thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway", adding it was examining the strike.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini slammed Wednesday's bombardment as a "blatant disregard of basic rules of war", with the compound clearly marked as a UN facility and its coordinates shared with Israeli authorities.
The Israeli army is the only force known to have tanks operating in the Gaza Strip.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell praised the agency on Friday for "playing a vital role over many years supporting vulnerable Palestinian refugees".
But he said the bloc expected "full transparency on the allegations" as well as "immediate measures against staff involved".
Italy on Saturday became the latest country to stop funding to the agency, after Australia and Canada said they had also suspended their funding.
The Palestinian Authority urged donors to reverse their suspension, calling Saturday for "maximum support for this international organisation and not stopping support and assistance to it".
UNRWA had not reacted on Saturday to the announcement of the suspension of funds.
Johann Soufi, a lawyer and former director of UNRWA's legal office in Gaza, said that the agency had "always had a zero-tolerance policy for violence and incitement to hatred".
"Sanctioning UNRWA, which is barely keeping the entire population of Gaza alive, for the alleged responsibility of a few employees, is tantamount to collectively punishing the Gazan population, which is living in catastrophic humanitarian conditions," he said. — AFP
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