More countries have halted funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, as the crisis deepens over the alleged role of some staff in the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.
Japan and Austria said they were suspending payments to UNWRA, joining the US, UK, Germany and Italy who also suspended funding.
UNRWA tells the BBC that it is “extremely desperate” and that “the humanitarian needs in Gaza are growing by the hour”.
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The agency has sacked several of its staff over allegations they were involved on 7 October, when Hamas gunmen infiltrated Israel, killing about 1,300 people, mainly civilians, and taking about 250 others back to Gaza as hostages.
Gaza’s health ministry says more than 26,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a major military operation in response. It says another 1.7 million people have fled their homes, with many of them sheltering at UNRWA facilities.
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