UN agency condemns aid halt, Israel offensive dims peace deal in Gaza

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, referred to the countries that halted funding as engaging in "additional collective punishment" against Palestinians in Gaza. He stated that this action threatened the agency's humanitarian work in the besieged region.

Nine countries including Germany, the United States and Australia earlier paused funding the UN agency, which was established as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly in 1949 to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war at Israel's founding and provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestinian refugees.

The decision to halt funding came after Israel accused some UNRWA employees of participating in an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. UNRWA initiated an investigation into the employees and cut ties with those involved.

"Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment," Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, said on X, formerly Twitter. "This stains all of us."

Lazzarini added the nine countries' decision threatened the humanitarian work across the region, especially in Gaza.

The UN agency nowadays helps about two-thirds of Gaza's 2.3 million population and has played a pivotal aid role during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Hamas condemned the termination of employee contracts "based on information derived from the Zionist enemy".

Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said on the social media platform X that "especially at this time, amid the ongoing (Israel's) aggression against the Palestinian people, we are in desperate need of support from this international organization."

Israeli military operations continue despite pressure

Israel continues its military operations in Gaza, resulting in deaths and injuries among Palestinians, despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza on Friday.

Over the past few hours, fierce clashes have erupted between Palestinian factions and advancing Israeli forces in various areas in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Palestinian medical sources report that "a large number of deaths and wounded have been admitted to hospitals in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes on different areas."

The Palestinian Red Cross and Red Crescent Society issued a statement condemning Israel's targeting of Al-Amal Hospital and the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis for the fifth consecutive day.

They called on the international community to "urgently move to protect its working teams there."

Niu Xinchun, a professor at Ningxia University's China-Arab Research Institute, said the ICJ's ruling has rendered the international community legal basis to put pressure on Israel, adding that the ruling also matters much for Israelis, who are mostly Jews – a victim of the Holocaust during World War II.

Protests have taken place in and out of Israel recently, calling for an end to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and bringing the hostages home.

The continued fighting also dims the highly-anticipated negotiation of a one-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Qin Tian, deputy director of the Middle East Institute from the China Institute of Modern International Relations, said it's not easy to reach a ceasefire deal as long as Israel and Hamas expect too much from each other.

Hamas is trying to seize the opportunity to push Israel to stop the large-scale offensive rather than accept a temporary ceasefire, while Israel vows to annihilate Hamas, Qin said, adding that both factors make the negotiations challenging.

(With input from agencies)