Australia PM says government 'examining' claims against UN Palestinian agency

After Australia stopped financing the UN agency last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia announced on Sunday that his government was looking into allegations that some UNRWA employees were engaged in the Hamas assault on Israel on October 7.

Australia is one of many nations that have discontinued financing for UNRWA, a crucial source of help in Gaza, amid Israeli charges of UN staff’ collaboration with Hamas.

“We’re examining it, along with other like-minded countries like Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. We want that to be resolved,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp regarding the allegations, according to a transcript.

According to Albanese, the administration sought to ensure that all financing was “going to the purpose for which it is given” and that the claims were “fully examined”.

The prime minister continued by saying that UNRWA was “the only organisation that can provide that support there” and that he did not want people in Gaza to be “literally starving.”

Along with the US, Australia, and Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Finland also halted financing to the relief organisation at the end of last month.

According to the agency, it has cut links with numerous workers and initiated an inquiry against them.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in January described UNRWA as “the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza” and has appealed to all countries to “guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s lifesaving work.”

The agency, whose biggest donors in 2022 included the U.S., Germany and the European Union, has repeatedly said its capacity to render humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza is on the verge of collapse.