Munich, 18 February 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The head of the UN body for protecting refugees, the UNHCR, has called for payments to be resumed to the criticized Palestinian aid agency UNRWA.

Israel has accused a dozen UNRWA employees of being involved in the terrorist acts committed by Hamas on October 7.

The reports have led a number of Western countries to suspend funding to UNRWA, including major donors, the United States and Germany.

UNHCR head Filippo Grandi said the situation was devastating for the people of Gaza.

“The sooner decisions are made about continuing or resuming financing, the better for the lives of millions of people,” he told dpa on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

UNRWA fulfilled an important task that could not be taken on by anyone else, Grandi said.

“UNRWA has a very specific way of working, not only in the humanitarian field, but in running schools and health centres for millions of Palestinians.”

Set up in 1949, UNRWA provides relief to Palestinian refugees, operating educational and medical facilities. More than 30,000 people work for the organization, some 13,000 of them in the Gaza Strip alone.

The agency is seen as irreplaceable in the area, where it provides aid to more than 2 million civilians currently suffering the effects of the Gaza War.

Grandi also warned about a decline in financial support for humanitarian needs across the globe.

“Last year, in 2023, my organization received a billion dollars less from its donors than the year before. And we had many more crises than the year before,” he said.

Photo: MIA archive