An Israeli document obtained Monday spelled out allegations against a dozen U.N. employees the country says participated in Hamas' Oct. 7 assault — claiming seven stormed into Israeli territory, including two who participated in kidnappings.

The allegations against staffers with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees prompted Western countries to freeze funds vital for the body, which is a lifeline for desperate Palestinians in Gaza. The U.N. fired nine of the 12 accused workers and condemned “the abhorrent alleged acts” of staff members.

The accusations come after years of tensions between Israel and the agency known as UNRWA over its work in Gaza, where it employs roughly 13,000 people.

Despite the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the besieged territory — where Israel’s war against Hamas has displaced the vast majority of the population and officials say a quarter of Palestinians are starving — major donors, including the U.S. and Britain, have cut funding. On Monday, Japan and Austria joined them in pausing assistance.

With the majority of its budget in doubt, UNRWA says it will be forced to halt operations within weeks if funding isn't restored.

The threat to the U.N. agency came as Israel said cease-fire talks held Sunday were constructive but that “significant gaps” remained in any potential agreement. The talks are meant to bring about some respite to war-torn Gaza and secure the release of more than 100 hostages still held in the territory.

Fighting continued, further complicating assistance to war-weary people in Gaza. Israel issued an evacuation order to residents in the western part of Gaza City, urging them to head south. The order indicated that battles are still being waged in northern Gaza, an area Israel pummeled in the first weeks of the war and where it had previously said it held military control.

The war was sparked with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw some 250 people taken captive, according to Israeli authorities.

The attack set off an intense air, sea and ground offensive that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

The war has also threatened to set off a wider regional conflict, with the U.S. announcing three of its troops killed in a strike blamed on Iran-backed militias in Jordan.

UNRWA WORKERS

The Israeli document, which has been shared with U.S. officials and was obtained by The Associated Press, lists 12 people, their alleged roles in the attack, job descriptions and photos.

The document said intelligence gathered showed that at least 190 UNRWA workers were Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, without providing evidence.

It said of the 12 workers, nine were teachers and one a social worker. Seven of the employees were accused of crossing into Israel on Oct. 7. Of those, two were alleged to have kidnapped or assisted in the abduction of Israelis and another two were said to have participated in raids on communal farming villages, according to the document.

One was accused of arming himself with an anti-tank missile the night before the attack, while the document claimed another took photos of a female hostage.

Some were accused of “participating in a terror activity” or coordinating the movement of trucks or weapons used in the attack. Ten were listed as having ties to Hamas and one to the Islamic Jihad militant group.

The names and photos of the accused workers could not immediately be verified.

Two of the 12 have been killed, according to the document. The U.N. previously said one was still being identified.

The allegations have stoked longstanding tensions between Israel and UNRWA. Israel says Hamas uses the agency's facilities to store weapons or launch attacks from. UNRWA says it does not knowingly tolerate such behavior and has internal safeguards to prevent abuses and discipline any wrongdoing.

The agency's commissioner, Philippe Lazzarini, recently announced that he was ordering an external review of the agency's operations and its safeguards.

Israel has long been critical of the agency and accuses it of helping to perpetuate the 76-year-old Palestinian refugee crisis. UNRWA says it cares for the vast needs of millions of Palestinians across the Middle East that have been sharply exacerbated by the latest war.

CALL TO RESUME FUNDING

The U.N. says the entire agency should not be penalized by the alleged actions of the dozen workers, who it says will be held accountable if true. It has called for the donors to resume funding.

The United States, the agency’s largest donor, cut funding over the weekend, followed by several other countries. Together, they provided more than 60% of UNRWA’s budget in 2022.

UNRWA provides basic services for Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding the country’s creation. The refugees and their descendants are the majority of Gaza’s population.

Since the war began, most of the territory’s 2.3 million people depend on the agency’s programs for “sheer survival,” including food and shelter, Lazzarini said.

A quarter of Gaza’s population is facing starvation as fighting and Israeli restrictions hinder the delivery of aid, which has been well below the daily average of 500 trucks before the war.

Communications Director Juliette Touma warned that the agency would be forced to stop its support in Gaza by the end of February.

UN aid agency serving Palestinians in Gaza faces more funding cuts amid Oct 7 claims

The U.N. aid agency serving Palestinians in Gaza faced more funding cuts Monday amid accusations that 12 of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.

An Israeli document obtained by The Associated Press on Monday details Israeli claims that U.N. teachers and a social worker employed by the agency, known as UNRWA, allegedly stormed into Israel that day, in some cases helping to take hostages or coordinating weapons’ transfers.

The allegations over the weekend triggered a wave of funding cuts by major donors, including the U.S., Britain and France. Austria said Monday that it would suspend its financial assistance.

UNRWA employs roughly 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza and says it will be forced to halt operations within weeks if funding isn’t restored. The war has led to a humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced the vast majority of the embattled enclave’s population and caused widespread hunger.

Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. About 250 people were taken captive, according to Israeli authorities.

It set off a brutal air, sea and ground offensive by Israel's military that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. It has also threatened to set off a wider regional conflict.

Currently:

— Biden says US ‘shall respond’ after drone strike by Iran-backed group kills 3 US troops in Jordan

— Israel notes ‘significant gaps’ after cease-fire talks with US, Qatar, Egypt but says constructive

— Israel’s president says the UN world court misrepresented his comments in its genocide ruling

— What is UNRWA, the main aid provider in Gaza that Israel accuses of militant links?

— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here's the latest:

GERMANY CONDEMNS ATTACK ON US TROOPS IN JORDAN

BERLIN — Germany has condemned the fatal attack on U.S. troops in Jordan that Washington has blamed on Iran-backed militias and is calling on Tehran to exert its influence on regional allies to prevent further escalation.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer on Monday underlined Berlin’s solidarity with Jordan and the U.S.

He added that “in view of the extremely tense situation in the region, this act is completely irresponsible and could lead to pushing the region further toward escalation.”

Fischer said: “We expect from Iran that it finally exert its influence on its allies in the region so that there is no uncontrolled conflagration, in which no one can have an interest.

5 PALESTINIANS KILLED BY ISRAELI FORCES IN THE WEST BANK

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian authorities say five Palestinians, including a 16-year old boy, have been killed by Israeli forces in separate shootings across the occupied West Bank on Monday.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the boy was killed near the Israeli settlement of Tekoa. The ministry gave no further details, but the Israeli military said the boy had attempted to carry out a stabbing attack on soldiers at a guard post.

In other violence, the Palestinian Health Ministry said two men, one of them age 18, were shot dead by Israeli troops in the southern West Bank city of Dura. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said that Israeli forces opened fire after clashing with Palestinians from the area.

Two other men were killed — one of them in the southern city of Hebron and the other in the central town of Silwad, it said.

The Israeli army said one of its counterterrorism operations in the town of Dura overnight Sunday sparked a riot in the town. It said its forces then opened fire in response to dozens of Palestinian protesters hurling stones at its troops.

In the town of Yamoun, near Jenin, Israeli forces said its troops returned fire at a wanted suspect they were trying to arrest, hitting the man.

EU SEEKS TO APPOINT EXPERTS TO CONDUCT AN AUDIT OF UNRWA

BRUSSELS — The European Union wants to appoint independent experts to conduct an audit of the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency to ensure that UNRWA staff can't be involved “in terrorist activities.”

The 27-nation bloc is one of the biggest donors of humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians in Gaza, but was not scheduled to provide more funding to UNRWA before the end of February.

Israel has accused a dozen UNRWA employees of taking part in the Hamas attack in October that ignited the war and stoked deadly instability across the Middle East. Several countries have frozen funding to the agency.

The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, says it “expects UNRWA to agree to carrying out an audit of the agency to be conducted by EU appointed independent external experts.”

The audit would focus “specifically on the control systems needed to prevent the possible involvement of its staff in terrorist activities.”

IRAQ CONDEMNS DRONE STRIKE THAT KILLED 3 US TROOPS IN JORDAN

BAGHDAD — Iraq's government condemned the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan near the Syrian border Sunday, in an apparent effort to distance itself from an attack that was likely carried out by one of the country's multiple Iranian-backed militias.

Government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement on Monday that Iraq is “monitoring with a great concern the alarming security developments in the region” and called for “an end to the cycle of violence.” The statement said that Iraq is ready to participate in diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.

An umbrella group for Iran-backed factions known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed dozens of attacks against bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began. On Sunday, the group claimed three drone attacks against sites in Syria, including near the border with Jordan, and one inside of “occupied Palestine” but so far hasn't claimed the attack in Jordan.

MAN WOUNDED IN ATTACK OUTSIDE ISRAELI MILITARY BASE

JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities say a 20-year-old man has been seriously wounded after an attack outside a military base in Haifa in northern Israel.

The Israeli military said a motorist carried out a car ramming attack on Monday before exiting the vehicle and trying to attack soldiers with an ax. The soldiers shot at the attacker, the military said. It wasn't immediately clear if the attacker was killed.

Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said that paramedics were treating a 20-year-old man with “serious lower limb injuries,” and had evacuated him to a hospital in serious condition.

The attack came as tensions have spiked around the region over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Earlier this month, a woman was killed in a similar attack north of Tel Aviv.

AUSTRIA SUSPENDS PAYMENTS TO UNRWA

BERLIN — Austria is joining a string of Western partners in suspending payments to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees after Israel accused a dozen of its employees of taking part in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that started the war.

The Foreign Ministry in Vienna said in a statement Monday that Austria “will provisionally suspend all further payments to UNRWA in coordination with international partners” until all the accusations are “fully cleared up” and there is clarity on the consequences.

It called on the UNRWA agency and the wider U.N. to conduct a “comprehensive, quick and complete investigation.”

JAPAN SUSPENDS FUNDING FOR THE UN AID AGENCY IN GAZA

TOKYO — Japan has suspended additional funding for UNRWA while the agency conducts an investigation into allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

It said Japan is “extremely concerned about the alleged involvement of UNRWA staff members in the terror attack on Israel” last year.

The ministry noted the dedication of many UNRWA staff in providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza and said: “Japan has been strongly urging UNRWA to conduct an investigation in a prompt and complete manner and to take appropriate measures, including strengthening governance with UNRWA, so that UNRWA can firmly fulfill the role it should play.”

UK suspends funding to UN agency in Gaza as staff sacked over Hamas attack allegations

The UK has suspended funding for the UN agency providing aid to Palestinian refugees after allegations that staff members were involved in Hamas’s deadly 7 October attack on Israel.

Another four countries – the US, Australia, Italy and Canada – have also paused donations.

More than 1,200 people were killed when Hamas stormed Israeli communities.

The bloodshed sparked the current war in Gaza, in which more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, after Israel vowed to destroy Hamas.

The Foreign Office said in a statement the UK was “appalled” by allegations that UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) staff were involved in the 7 October attack “a heinous act of terrorism” that the UK government has repeatedly condemned.

“The UK is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations,” the statement said.

“We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it.”

The relief agency has played a key role in providing aid to the population of the besieged enclave amid a mounting humanitarian disaster.

Earlier this week the foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, called for more provisions to be allowed to enter Gaza during a visit to the region.

Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons International Development select committee, described the development as “very concerning”, saying that “in many ways, UNWRA effectively acts as the local authority, so the impact on civilians will be immense.”

But former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said he was “pleased” Britain had agreed to pause support for UNRWA, adding that “the UK has been too blasé about who we have funded and for what purpose. That needs to end now.”

The current crisis erupted on Friday when UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said it had terminated contracts with “several” employees and ordered an investigation after Israel provided information alleging they played a role in the assault.

The US, the agency’s biggest donor, said allegations had been made against 12 employees.

UNRWA has around 13,000 staff in Gaza, almost all of them Palestinians. They range from teachers, in schools run by the agency, to doctors and other medical staff.

Israeli officials have frequently accused UNRWA of allowing anti-Israeli incitement. The Trump administration suspended funding to the agency in 2018, but it was restored by President Biden.

In its 7 October attack, Hamas broke through the security fence surrounding Gaza and stormed nearby Israeli communities, kidnapping some 250 people.

While some of the hostages have been released as part of transfer swaps with Israel, around 100 are still being held.

UN urges reversal of funding pause for Palestinian agency, vows accountability with staffers

U.N. officials urged countries to reconsider a pause in funding for the U.N. agency for Palestinians on Sunday, pledging that any staff found involved in Hamas' attack on Israel would be punished and warning that aid for some two million people in Gaza was at stake.

At least nine countries, including top donors the U.S. and Germany, have paused funding for the UNRWA refugee agency after allegations by Israel that a dozen of its 13,000 staff in Gaza were involved in the Oct. 7 rampage.

"While I understand their concerns – I was myself horrified by these accusations - I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA's operations," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday, promising to hold to account "any U.N. employee involved in acts of terror".

He said this could include criminal prosecution - a rare move within the global body since most staff enjoy functional immunity, although Guterres has the power to waive it.

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, also urged countries to "reconsider their decisions before UNRWA is forced to suspend its humanitarian response." A U.N. investigation into the Israeli allegations is underway.

More than 26,000 people have been killed in Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, the enclave's health ministry said. With flows of aid like food and medicine into the territory just a trickle of pre-conflict levels, deaths from preventable diseases as well as the risk of famine are growing, aid officials say.

Since the Oct. 7 attacks, which killed 1,200 people in Israel, most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have become more reliant on the aid UNRWA provides, including about one million who have fled Israeli bombardments sheltering in its facilities.

Responding to Guterres' statement, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called on all donor states to suspend their support and demand an in-depth investigation into "the involvement of all UNRWA employees in terror".

He added in a statement that Guterres' appeal for continued funding for the agency had "proven once again that the security of the citizens of Israel is not really important for him".

Israel has not yet publicly given details of UNRWA staff members' alleged involvement in the attack on Israel. Guterres said 12 staff members had been implicated and that nine had been terminated, one was dead and the identities of the other two were being clarified.

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy told Reuters that to his knowledge the intelligence that led the U.S. to cut off its funding had not yet been declassified, but that an Israeli briefing would be dedicated to this topic later in the week.

'DO NOT STARVE CHILDREN'

Observers and aid workers said the move by the donors would exacerbate hunger.

"Donors, do not starve children for the sins of a few individual aid workers," said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

A U.N. appointed expert on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, warned that the funding cuts meant that famine was now "inevitable" in Gaza.

Even before the conflict, UNRWA was struggling to secure funding and warned that it was on the verge of collapse. Many of its 13,000 staff members are refugees themselves and at least 150 have been killed since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.

Palestinians expressed anger at the funding cuts.

"We used to say Israel was launching a war of famine against us in parallel to its war of destruction, now those countries who suspended the aid to UNRWA declared themselves partners in this war, and collective punishment," said Yamen Hamad, who lives at an UNRWA-run school in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, after fleeing northern Gaza.

"UNRWA is our lifeline, who will give us food and drink after the war? May Allah help the people, what can I say," said another man, Raed Shaheen, standing next to a cart laden with blankets and bags outside the southern city of Khan Younis.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said he was "surprised" by the move to pause UNRWA funding and said it would lead to more suffering for Palestinians. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also urged countries that had paused funding to reconsider their move.

UNRWA's role has long been criticised by Israel which alleges it has supported Hamas for years, an allegation the agency denies.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of leading an oppressive campaign against the agency. "The campaign aims to liquidate the issue of Palestinian refugees," he said in a statement.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the Israeli accusations against UNRWA were a challenge to the International Court of Justice's decision on Friday that ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

There was no immediate sign of countries' heeding the U.N. call to reinstate aid. However, Norway and Ireland said they would continue funding the agency.

“While I share the concern over the very serious allegations against some UNRWA staff, Norway has decided to continue its funding. UNRWA is a lifeline for millions of people in deep distress in Gaza as well as in the wider region,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on X, formerly Twitter.

Israel has been strongly critical of the United Nations and in particular Guterres since early in the war.

Israel's then foreign minister Eli Cohen said on Nov. 14 that Guterres was not fit to head the organisation, saying he had not done enough to condemn Hamas and was too close to Iran.

UNRWA was set up to help refugees of the war at Israel's founding in 1948 and provides education, health and aid services to them in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Gaza humanitarian aid 'at risk' as Western countries pause UN agency funding

Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck near an Israeli checkpoint, as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City on Saturday. 

A pause in funding to a critical United Nations agency is raising concerns that humanitarian aid in Gaza is at further risk.

Canada and the U.S. paused funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) Friday after Israeli authorities claimed several of the agency's staff members were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.

Seven other countries — the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland — have taken similar action.

The UNRWA is sheltering most of Gaza's population, with members employed as teachers, nurses, janitors and other social support workers looking after residents who have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes. The organization also plays a key logistical role with other aid agencies, identifying need and getting resources where they need to go.

"It's basically a municipal government. They take care of many, many things, from hospitals, medical care, schooling, sanitation, that sort of thing," said Michael Bociurkiw, a Canadian global affairs analyst and former UNICEF spokesperson for the West Bank and Gaza.

"It is inconceivable that any other aid agency on the planet could currently do what UNRWA is doing in Gaza," said Rex Brynen, chair of the Middle East Studies program at McGill University in Montreal. He has worked in war zones and acted as a consultant to the Canadian International Development Agency, the World Bank and United Nations agencies, among others.

"UNRWA is desperately short of resources right now. Gaza is desperately short of resources. And any funding paused by anyone puts the humanitarian relief efforts at risk."

He said Western leaders recognize how critical the agency is, but are in a place where they need to act on the "serious" allegations for political and operational reasons.

"But also the reality is that suspending funding for the single most important humanitarian aid agency — which everyone agrees has been doing an outstanding job of humanitarian assistance in a very difficult environment — is problematic," Brynen said.

Damaged houses lie in ruin in Gaza, as seen from Israel on Wednesday. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)

UNRWA pleads for funding

The UNRWA said Friday it fired the employees suspected of involvement and opened an investigation, vowing any employee "involved in acts of terror" would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.

Bociurkiw told CBC News on Sunday that it's difficult to monitor everyone in an organization that has tens of thousands of employees, but these allegations are so serious that the aid agency must do more to restore the faith of donor countries — such as release details of the investigation and call in an independent investigator, "maybe a former UN secretary general on that level to get to the bottom of this."

On Saturday, the agency's commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, urged countries to reinstate their funding "before UNRWA is forced to suspend its humanitarian response. "The lives of people in Gaza depend on this support and so does regional stability," he said in a statement.

Lazzarini said it is "shocking" to see funds suspended in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff after UNRWA terminated their contracts and tasked the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services to carry out an independent investigation.

"UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over two million people depending on it for their sheer survival. Many are hungry as the clock is ticking towards a looming famine," he said in the statement.

The International Court of Justice ruled Friday that Israel must take immediate measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip. Lazzarini said that can only be accomplished through co-operation with international partners — and with UNRWA, as the largest humanitarian actor.

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said cutting support to the agency brings major political and relief risks. "We call on countries that announced the cessation of their support for UNRWA to immediately reverse their decision," he said on X.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized what it described as an Israeli campaign against UNRWA, and Hamas condemned the termination of employee contracts "based on information derived from the Zionist enemy."

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz encouraged more donor suspensions and said UNRWA should be replaced once fighting in the enclave dies down, accusing it of ties to Islamist militants in Gaza.

"In Gaza's rebuilding, @UNRWA must be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development," he said on X.

Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq, asked about Katz's remarks, said, "We are not responding to rhetoric. UNRWA overall had had a strong record, which we have repeatedly underscored."

UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini addresses the assembly during the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva in December. (Jean-Guy Python/Reuters)

What could happen if funds run dry?

The agency has more than 30,000 employees overall, mostly Palestinian refugees, and is under strain with concurrent conflicts in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.

UNRWA says at least 152 of its employees have been killed since Oct. 7, as of Jan. 22. The agency says one of its shelters in Khan Younis has been struck repeatedly by Israeli missiles, the latest hit on Jan. 24, which killed at least 13 people.

Lazzarini said 3,000 core staff out of 13,000 in Gaza continue to work, "giving their communities a lifeline which can collapse anytime now due to lack of funding."

Brynen suggested the collapse of UNRWA could lead to hundreds of thousands of desperate Palestinians crashing the Egyptian border, which Egypt has said could end its peace treaty with Israel.

Western countries are likely hoping the UNRWA makes a significant move to quell their concerns so they can reinstate funding, he said.

"From the point of view of American policy, where they're already getting hammered for the massive civilian casualties in Gaza, they realize full well if it wasn't for UNRWA, this situation would be orders of magnitude worse — not only from a humanitarian point of view, but from, frankly, a political point of view as well," Brynen said.

Brynen said organizations such as the UN World Food Program, UNICEF, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and potentially the World Health Organization could step up their relief response to mitigate the effects of a funding pause in the short term, but no agency has the staff or distribution network to replace UNRWA.

What is UNRWA?

Officially called the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA was established in 1949 following the war surrounding Israel's creation.

The agency provides services for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, as well as Gaza.

A Palestinian man holds a bag of flour as others wait to receive theirs from UNRWA during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 29, 2023. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters )

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have accused the agency of fuelling anti-Israeli sentiment, which it denies.

UNRWA has provided aid and used its facilities to shelter people fleeing bombardment and a ground offensive launched by Israel in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

Israel's offensive has laid waste to much of the densely populated Gaza Strip and killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the territory.