The U.N. aid agency serving Palestinians in Gaza faced more funding cuts Monday amid accusations that 12 of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.
An Israeli document obtained by media on Monday details Israeli claims that U.N. teachers and a social worker employed by the agency, known as UNRWA, allegedly stormed into Israel that day, in some cases helping to take hostages or coordinating weapon transfers.
The allegations over the weekend triggered a wave of funding cuts by major donors, including the U.S., Britain and France. Austria said Monday that it would suspend its financial assistance.
UNRWA employs roughly 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza and says it will be forced to halt operations within weeks if funding isn’t restored. The war has led to a humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced the vast majority of the embattled enclave’s population and caused widespread hunger.
Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. About 250 people were taken captive, according to Israeli authorities.
It set off an air, sea and ground offensive by Israel’s military that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. It has also threatened to set off a wider regional conflict.
Currently:
— Biden says US ‘shall respond’ after drone strike by Iran-backed group kills 3 US troops in Jordan.
— What is Tower 22, the military base that was attacked in Jordan?
— Israel notes ‘significant gaps’ after cease-fire talks with US, Qatar, Egypt but says constructive.
— Israel’s president says the UN world court misrepresented his comments in its genocide ruling.
— What is UNRWA, the main aid provider in Gaza that Israel accuses of militant links?
— Find more of news agencies’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
WASHINGTON — A drone that killed three American troops and wounded dozens of others in Jordan may have been confused with an American drone returning to the U.S. installation, according to a U.S. official.
The official, who was not authorized to comment and insisted on anonymity, said Monday the preliminary accounts suggest the enemy drone that struck the installation known as Tower 22 may have been mistaken for an American drone that was also in the air at the same time.
The official said that as the enemy drone was flying in at a low altitude, a U.S. drone was also returning to base. As a result, there was no effort to shoot down the enemy drone.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s parliament has held a hearing on whether to expel a lawmaker for supporting South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the U.N. world court.
The lawmaker, Ofer Cassif, is from the Arab-Jewish Hadash party in the Israeli parliament and one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
The proceedings Monday came in response to Cassif signing a petition supporting South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
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