UK to resume funding to UN Gaza aid agency

The UK will resume funding UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, the foreign secretary has announced.

David Lammy told MPs he had received reassurances about its neutrality in the wake of a review of alleged links between its staff and terror groups.

The UK was among several countries to suspend donations in January, after Israel alleged 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the October 2023 attacks by Hamas.

An internal UN investigation into those specific allegations is continuing.

But a separate UN review, published in April, found Israel had not provided evidence for its claims large numbers of UNRWA staff were members of terror groups.

Countries including Japan, Sweden, Finland, Canada have since resumed funding, although the agency's biggest donor, the United States, has not.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Lammy said "no other agency" was able to deliver aid at the scale required to alleviate the “desperate" humanitarian situation in Gaza.

He added UNRWA was feeding over half the territory's population and would be "vital for future reconstruction".

He said he had been "appalled" by Israel's allegations, but the claims had been taken "seriously” by the United Nations.

He had been reassured the agency "is ensuring they meet the highest standards of neutrality" in the wake of the April review, he added.

This included "strengthening its procedures, including on vetting," Mr Lammy said.

He told MPs a resumption of the UK's £21m annual funding would include money put towards “management reforms” recommended by the UN review.

The review, by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, found Israel had "yet to provide supporting evidence" for its claims that a "significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organizations".

Israel has said more than 2,135 employees of the agency - out of a total of 13,000 in Gaza - are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK, US and other countries.

However, the review concluded the agency must do more to improve its neutrality, staff vetting and transparency.

Israeli authorities suggest the report ignores the severity of the problem, and claim UNRWA has systematic links with Hamas.

Israel initially alleged that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas attacks on southern Israel, which saw 1,200 people killed and about 250 taken hostage.

More than 38,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the attacks.

UNRWA sacked the 10 of the 12 employees who were still alive when the allegations emerged. A probe into the claims by its Office of Internal Oversight is ongoing.