UN agency's funding halted over Israeli claims that staff joined Oct. 7 attacks

The Biden administration suspended funding for the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees over Israeli allegations that some of its staff joined the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists on southern Israel.

The U.S. is “extremely troubled” by allegations that 12 staff with the UN Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, may have been involved in the attack, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. “There must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks of October 7,” he said.

The U.S. announcement came shortly after UNRWA said it fired the staff in question and announced it would investigate the claims against them. UN Secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres was “horrified by the news” and asked UNRWA director-general Philippe Lazzarini to refer the accused for prosecution, his office said in a statement.

The claims will be a black eye for UNRWA, which provides humanitarian assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. It has long been regarded with suspicion by Israel and Republicans in the U.S., who argue that it only fuels the Israeli-palestinian conflict and money going to food, education and health care frees up Hamas to fund hostilities against Israel.

Those allegations became even more charged after Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages. But the group has also paid a heavy price in Israel's bombardment of Gaza, with more than 150 of its staff killed in the violence.

Former president Donald Trump slashed U.S. funding for UNRWA early in his administration. President Joe Biden restored much of that funding, and the U.S. contributed more than US$296 million to the group in 2023.

Senator James Risch, the Idaho Republican who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had warned the Biden administration for years about resuming funding for the group, which he said “has a history of employing people connected to terrorist movements like Hamas.”