RIYADH: Freezing funds to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees risks "aiding" the deaths of civilians in Gaza, the head of Saudi Arabia's humanitarian agency said on Tuesday.
Several countries — including the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan — have suspended funding to the UNRWA agency in response to Israeli allegations that some of its staff members participated in the October 7 attack.
Last week, as war entered a fifth month, Israel's military also said troops had uncovered a Hamas tunnel under UNRWA's evacuated Gaza City headquarters.
The UN has sacked the 12 UNRWA staff members accused by Israel of involvement in the October 7 attack and said the tunnel claim should be investigated once the conflict is over.
"We should not penalise the innocent people, millions of people who are living in Gaza, because of an accusation on a handful of people," Dr Abdullah al Rabeeah, head of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, said in an interview on Tuesday.
"If you have close to two million people living in a small place... and then the funding for the food and for the health basics is stopped, basically you are calling for them to live in, actually, disaster and also aiding in their death."
Rabeeah, who is also an adviser to the Saudi Royal Court, spoke as Gaza braced for an expected Israeli incursion into the crowded southern city of Rafah where more than a million Palestinians are trapped.
He warned that such an operation would produce "chaos" and potentially trigger the "complete stoppage" of aid trucks.
"We will see thousands of people losing their lives. Now people talk about the threat of epidemics, the threat of famine, and you name it. So we don't want to see any civilian get lost because of things that can be avoided," he said.
At least 28,473 people, mostly women and children, have died in Israel's relentless bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Rabeeah said any deal should allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza "without any obstacles".
Saudi Arabia has sent 384 aid trucks and 20 ambulances into Gaza, he said, though he noted that an even greater amount of aid was stuck in Egypt, unable to cross into Gaza. — AFP
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