UN special rapporteur on Palestine slams countries suspending funds for UNRWA

Palestinians carry bags of flour they received from an aid truck near an Israeli checkpoint, as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger in Gaza City. - Photo: Reuters

ANKARA: The United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on Palestine decried countries that announced a suspension of funding to the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that provides humanitarian aid to Palestinians following allegations of involvement by employees in the Oct 7 attacks on Israel.

"The day after International Criminal Court (ICJ) concluded that Israel is plausibly committing Genocide in Gaza, some states decided to defund UNRWA, collectively punishing millions of Palestinians at the most critical time, and most likely violating their obligations under the Genocide Convention,” Francesca Albanese wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Saturday (Jan 27).