United Nations, January 31 (RHC)-- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is meeting with key donors to UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, after the U.S. and a dozen other countries halted funding for the agency after Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of helping Hamas stage the October 7th attack.

 A group of at least 20 aid organizations, including ActionAid, Oxfam and Save the Children, issued a statement condemning the decision to suspend funding, warning it could lead to a “complete collapse” of the humanitarian response in Gaza. 

UNRWA has fired nine staffers in response to the allegations, and the matter is being investigated.  On Monday, the U.N. said Israeli authorities have not directly shared any evidence to substantiate their claims.

UN official Stéphane Dujarric told reporters: “You know, we’ve seen this reference to a dossier.  We saw it in the Times, in The Wall Street Journal, in CBS.  I’m not going to name all the media organizations, but we respect them all.  That information has not been given to us officially by the Israeli authorities.”

UNRWA reported today that Israel has attacked its facilities in Gaza at least 260 times, killing at least 360 Palestinians since October 7th.