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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an alternative to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to be provided by the end of the week, while Washington is considering transferring the support allocated to the agency to other parties.

Israel claims that members of the UNRWA agency played a role in the Al-Aqsa flood attack, which prompted the United States and other countries to withhold funding from the agency that provides its services to more than 5 million Palestinians.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said on Tuesday that Netanyahu asked the Chief of Staff to provide alternatives for UNRWA to transport aid to Gaza by the end of the week.

For its part, the United States announced that it may transfer support allocated to UNRWA to other institutions.

This came in a press conference by Vedant Patel, deputy spokesman for the US State Department, where he confirmed the validity of the Senate preparing a draft law to prevent aid provided to UNRWA, due to allegations that some of its members are linked to the Hamas movement. He added that the United Nations has opened an investigation in this regard.

Patel pointed out that the funding granted to UNRWA could be directed to other partners to provide aid to the Gaza Strip, such as the World Food Program, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and other civil organizations.

The American official stressed that they attach importance to the rapid completion of the investigation, indicating that they know how important UNRWA's work is.

UNRWA was established in 1949 and is being liquidated at the same time as the intensification of the siege and Israeli aggression on Gaza (Reuters)

Division over stopping funding

As of last January 30, 18 countries and the European Union had decided to suspend their funding to UNRWA, in line with Israel’s allegations that 12 of its employees participated in the Al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by the Palestinian resistance against Israel, in response to its massacres against civilians and its desecration of sanctities.

On the other hand, the governments of Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Norway issued separate statements announcing their continued financial support for UNRWA, while stressing the importance of investigating these allegations.

UNRWA was established by a decision of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, and was mandated to provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, until a just solution to their problem is reached.

It is noteworthy that since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving 27,478 martyrs and 66,835 injured, most of them children and women.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies