United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on countries to cover a $100 million funding gap for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warning that millions of people are at risk due to the shortfall.

Speaking at a donor conference on Tuesday, Guterres said UNRWA's situation was increasingly precarious due to the large funding shortfall and sweeping restrictions by Israel on the agency's work throughout the occupied Palestinian territory. He referred to the "utterly appalling" living conditions in Gaza, violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and Israeli attacks on Lebanon, where many Palestinian refugees have sought shelter.

The secretary-general warned that further funding cuts for UNRWA could "push conditions beyond breaking point." UNRWA, created by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to help Palestinians displaced during Israel's founding, provides aid, schooling, healthcare, social services, and shelter to 2.6 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.

The United States was UNRWA's biggest donor but cut funding in January 2024 after Israel alleged, without providing evidence, that a small number of UNRWA staff took part in the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel. A UN investigation found that nine UNRWA employees "may have been involved" in the attack.

Guterres rejected what he called continued efforts to undermine the agency through "disinformation, smear campaigns, legislative actions, operational restrictions, diplomatic roadblocks and more." He noted that 390 UNRWA personnel had been killed by Israel in Gaza since October 2023.

Turkey's permanent representative to the UN, Ahmet Yildiz, said Israel's actions were "blatant violations of international law" designed "to deprive Palestinian refugees of their right to return to their land."

Source: www.aljazeera.com