UK suspends UNRWA support after Israeli allegations
The UK has temporarily paused future funding of UNRWA, saying it is “appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel”.
A statement sent to the Guardian by the UK’s foreign, commonwealth and development office said:
The UK is appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK government has repeatedly condemned.
The UK is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations.
We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it.
Key events
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 26,000 Palestinians while leaving nearly 2 million survivors grappling with shortages in food, water, fuel and medical supplies:
With Nasser hospital out of commission, people in southern Gaza have been left with no healthcare options as a result of Israel’s attacks on the strip.
In a statement released over the weekend, Médecins Sans Frontieres said:
Amid ongoing heavy fighting and bombing in Khan Younis, south Gaza, Palestine/OPT, vital medical services have collapsed at Nasser hospital, currently the largest functioning health facility in the enclave. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) deplores a situation in which people have been left with no options to go for treatment in case of a large influx of war wounded.
Most of the hospital’s staff, along with thousands of displaced people who had sought shelter in the hospital, fled in the days leading up to the evacuation order of the surrounding areas by Israeli forces. The hospital’s surgical capacity is now almost non-existent, and the handful of medical staff remaining in the hospital must contend with very low supplies that are insufficient to handle mass casualty events – large influxes of wounded people.
Between 300 and 350 patients remain at Nasser hospital, unable to evacuate because it is too dangerous and there are no ambulances. These patients have war-related injuries such as open wounds, lacerations from explosions, fractures, and burns. On 24 January, at least one patient at the hospital died because there was no orthopaedic surgeon available.
Palestine foreign ministry condemns’ongoing genocide against our people’
Palestine’s foreign ministry has released a statement reiterating its condemnation of “the ongoing genocide against our people for the 113th consecutive day”.
It also condemned the “clear Israeli determination to continue destroying the Gaza Strip and turning it into an inhabitable place”.
It added:
The ministry views the continuation of this genocide as an Israeli challenge to the [ICJ] court decision, a clear commitment to systematic destruction of the region, creating a polluted environment, particularly by targeting hospitals and sewage stations. It also relates to the persistent policies of starvation, thirst, and depriving citizens of their basic needs, especially during the winter season.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemns the ongoing genocide against our people for the 113th consecutive day, with clear Israeli determination to continue destroying the #GazaStrip and turning it into an inhabitable place. The ministry views the… pic.twitter.com/hYMOr7K26H
— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) January 27, 2024
Since 7 October, Israeli forces have killed more than 26,000 Palestinians and injured nearly 65,000 additional Palestinians. Meanwhile, nearly 2 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks across Gaza amid shortages in food, water and medical supplies.
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, pressed China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, to use China’s influence to help rein in Iran’s support for Houthis after their attacks on Red Sea shipping, Reuters reports.
According to a US official, Beijing has told Washington that it is raising the issue with Tehran. The official added that Washington is waiting to see whether China does so and how effective the outreach will be.
Switzerland said on Saturday no decision would be taken on an expected aid payment to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) until “serious accusations” against several UNRWA staff were clarified, reports AFP.
The Swiss foreign ministry said it was “extremely worried” about allegations that several UNRWA staff members were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks inside Israel.
UNRWA said on Friday it had severed ties with several employees over the Israeli accusation and launched an investigation. The UK, Italy, Canada, Australia and the US have all suspended funding to UNRWA.
According to AFP, the Swiss foreign ministry said the country’s annual contribution to UNRWA, around 20m Swiss francs ($23 million) in recent years, had yet to be approved for 2024. “No decision will be taken as to this payment until we have more information about the serious accusations against UNRWA staff members,” it said.
Switzerland’s right-leaning lower house of parliament attempted during general budget discussions last month to strip UNRWA of its annual funding but the upper house opposed the move. Parliament eventually reached a compromise to cut 10m francs from the overall humanitarian funding budget, without specifying where the money should be saved. It said all contributions to humanitarian aid in the Middle East would be paid in instalments and only after consultation with parliamentary foreign policy committees.
“These consultations have yet to take place,” the foreign ministry stressed on Saturday. “Switzerland has zero tolerance for all forms of support for terrorism, and for calls to hatred or incitement to violence,” it added. “[Switzerland] expects that immediate measures will be taken in the face of credible allegations.”
It noted that UNRWA had taken immediate measures by firing the accused employees and launching an investigation.
Commodities trader Trafigura assessing security risk of Red Sea after fire on tanker
Commodities trader Trafigura said on Saturday it was assessing the security risks of further Red Sea voyages after firefighters put out a blaze on a tanker attacked by Yemen’s Houthi group a day earlier, reports Reuters.
The US military said a US navy ship and other vessels provided assistance after the Marlin Luanda was hit by a Houthi anti-ship missile. Over several hours early on Saturday the Marlin Luanda’s crew battled a blaze in one cargo tank on the vessel’s starboard side, Trafigura said in a statement. By Saturday afternoon, the blaze was extinguished and all crew were safe, it added.
“No further vessels operating on behalf of Trafigura are currently transiting the Gulf of Aden and we continue to assess carefully the risks involved in any voyage, including in respect of security and safety of the crew, together with shipowners and customers,” a Trafigura statement said.
Some shipping companies have suspended transits through the Red Sea, which is accessed from the Gulf of Aden, and taken much longer, costlier journeys around Africa to avoid being attacked by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi group, which began launching waves of exploding drones and missiles at vessels on 19 November in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The Houthi attacks have primarily targeted container vessels moving through the Red Sea. Many fuel tankers have kept using the route. A notable exception is QatarEnergy, the world’s second largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which earlier this month stopped sending tankers via the Red Sea, citing security concerns.
Summary of the day so far
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
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The UK has temporarily paused future funding of United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), saying it is “appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel”. It follows Italy, the US, Australia and Canada in suspending financing of UNRWA after Israeli allegations that some of UNRWA’s staff participated in the 7 October Hamas attacks.
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Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, said on Saturday that his country would seek to stop UNRWA from operating in Gaza after the war. Israel was aiming to ensure “UNRWA will not be a part of the day after”, Katz said, adding that he would try to gather support from the US, EU and other major donors to the agency.
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Crews extinguished a fire onboard the tanker Marlin Luanda, after the vessel was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, the commodities trader Trafigura says. It adds that the firefighting effort was supported by Indian, US and French navy vessels. No casualties or injuries were reported onboard the fuel tanker.
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The US military says it has destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Red Sea and ready to launch. The missile “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region”, US central command said in a statement.
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Hamas said in a statement that Israel is on a “campaign of incitement” against UN agencies delivering aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. A statement by the group highlighted an Israeli accusation of “collusion” between the World Health Organization (WHO) and Hamas, which the UN agency rejected on Friday. The statement also referenced recent the allegations that some UNRWA staff had participated in the 7 October Hamas attack.
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The Palestinian foreign ministry said an immediate ceasefire is “the only way” to implement Friday’s ICJ interim ruling. On Friday, the ICJ stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in Gaza but demanded Israel attempted to try to contain death and damage in its military offensive.
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The decision by some countries to cease support for the UNRWA entails great political and relief risks, Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said on Saturday.
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The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 174 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 310 were injured in the past 24 hours.
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Israel pressed ahead on Saturday with its campaign against Hamas in Gaza’s Khan Younis, as bad weather hit displaced Palestinians seeking refuge further north in the battered enclave. Witnesses reported heavy aerial and tank fire across Khan Younis, an area of southern Gaza that has become the focus of Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas, and around two main hospitals there. Thousands of civilians were reported to be trapped in southern Gaza by the bombardment and fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters on Saturday.
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Israeli strikes hit in the vicinity of al-Amal hospital and the largest functioning medical facility in the south, Nasser hospital, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said. Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the health ministry, said Israeli bombardment was compromising healthcare and endangering the lives of doctors, patients and displaced people.
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Hamas said its fighters fired an anti-tank missile against an Israeli tank in south-west Khan Younis.
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The Israeli military said it killed at least 11 gunmen who were trying to plant explosives near troops and others firing rifles and rocket-propelled grenades at soldiers in Khan Younis.
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The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, allied with Hamas, said its fighters were engaging Israeli forces in the area and had fired rockets into Israel.
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Two women and a man were killed early on Saturday in what witnesses said was an Israeli airstrike on a home in the southernmost part of Gaza.
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A 28-year-old internally displaced man was killed in the courtyard of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis after Israeli forces opened fire on him, says the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
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The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Saturday condemned the siege and targeting of al-Amal hospital and its branch headquarters in Khan Younis for the sixth consecutive day. The “siege and its consequences”, said the PRCS, are a “blatant violation of international agreements, especially the provisions of international humanitarian law that require the Israeli occupation to respect the Red Crescent emblem”.
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Hezbollah sources told Al Jazeera that four of its members were killed in a separate shelling attack in Bayt Lif in southern Lebanon. The news organisation said the Israeli army confirmed that they did use their air force to hit targets in southern Lebanon. According to Al Jazeera, Hezbollah responded with rockets on Saturday, hitting the central Galilee. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the facts.
Images of a fire onboard the tanker Marlin Luanda earlier, have come in on the news wires.
Crews extinguished the fire that started after the vessel was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden on Friday. Commodities trader Trafigura said that the firefighting effort was supported by Indian, US and French navy vessels.
Here are some of the latest images coming in around the world from global news agencies:
Three Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on home, say witnesses
Two women and a man were killed early Saturday in what witnesses said was an Israeli airstrike on a home in the southernmost part of Gaza, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The strike came less than a day after the ICJ ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza. As part of its binding ruling, the top UN court asked Israel for a compliance report in a month, meaning the military’s conduct will be under increasing scrutiny. The court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.
Friday’s decision came in a case brought by South Africa, which alleged Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian territory’s people, a charge Israel vehemently denies.
UK suspends UNRWA support after Israeli allegations
The UK has temporarily paused future funding of UNRWA, saying it is “appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel”.
A statement sent to the Guardian by the UK’s foreign, commonwealth and development office said:
The UK is appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK government has repeatedly condemned.
The UK is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations.
We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it.
