Borrell explained that UNRWA needs to be able to continue its work while allegations are being investigated that some of its 13,000 employees in Gaza participated in the Hamas attack on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip on October 7.
Borrell said, before a meeting of European Union development ministers in Brussels, “No one else can do what UNRWA is doing. These allegations must be verified… Let us wait for the investigations.”
“In the meantime, people should continue to eat and go to doctors,” he added.
Last week, Borrell warned that stopping funding for UNRWA would put the lives of hundreds of thousands at risk.
“Cutting funding for UNRWA would be inappropriate and dangerous,” Borrell said in a blog post.
It is noteworthy that several countries, including the United States, Britain, and Italy, temporarily suspended their funding for UNRWA, which dismissed a number of its employees, estimated to number in the thousands, after conducting an investigation into them.
UNRWA also said earlier that it will likely be forced to stop its operations in the Middle East, and not just in Gaza, by the end of this February if its funding remains suspended.
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