WASHINGTON — The State Department has paused additional funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees while it reviews allegations that 12 of the organization’s employees took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, said on Friday that it had terminated the contracts of several of its employees while it investigates their alleged involvement in Hamas’ deadly assault, in which the militants killed 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States is “extremely troubled” by the allegations and welcomed the UN’s announcement of a “comprehensive and independent” review of UNRWA.
“The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them,” Miller said in a statement.
