Today, Saturday, Italy, Canada and Australia announced the suspension of their funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after the United States took the same step, following Israeli allegations of the participation of some of the agency’s employees in the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance.

While the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) condemned what it described as "the Israeli campaign of incitement against international institutions."

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tayani wrote on the “X” platform that the Italian government suspended funding for UNRWA after what he described as a “brutal attack” on Israel last October 7, indicating that some of Rome’s allies had already taken the same decision.

In turn, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed "deep concern" about the accusations leveled against UNRWA, and wrote on the X platform, "We are communicating with our partners, and we will temporarily suspend the payment of funds."

It added, "We applaud UNRWA's immediate response, including terminating contracts (with employees), as well as announcing an investigation into the accusations against the organization."

For his part, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussein said yesterday, Friday, that “Canada has temporarily suspended any additional funding for UNRWA while it conducts an in-depth investigation into these accusations.”

“Canada takes these accusations very seriously, and is closely engaging with UNRWA and other donors on this issue,” he wrote on the X platform.

Yesterday, Friday, the United States announced a “temporary suspension” of all future funding to this UN agency, which is at the heart of distributing aid to civilians in Gaza amid the raging war waged by the Israeli army on the Strip.

Hamas condemns

On the other hand, the Hamas movement said - in a statement - that it strongly condemns the Israeli campaign of incitement against UN institutions, which contributes to “relief for our people who are subjected to genocide,” as it put it.

It added that the latest incitement campaign was “the hollow accusation against the World Health Organization, of what they called collusion with the Hamas movement, by repeating the false claim about the movement’s use of hospitals in military operations.”

It added that the incitement against UNRWA comes "with the aim of cutting off its funding and depriving the Palestinian people of their right to the services of these international agencies."

Yesterday, the World Health Organization denied the accusations leveled against it by Israel of “collusion” with Hamas during the aggression on the Gaza Strip.

In the same context, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said - today - that his country will seek to prevent UNRWA from working in the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, after Tel Aviv accused employees of the UN agency of participating in the attack on October 7, 2023.

Katz wrote on the X platform that the Foreign Ministry aims to ensure that “UNRWA is not part of the stage” that follows the war, adding that he will seek to mobilize support from the United States, the European Union, and other major donors.