Regardless of whether or not UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October operations, defunding UNRWA and penalising the dying, starving, thirsty, ill and displaced Palestinians of the Gaza Strip is, at the very minimum, collective punishment. These decisions contradict the ICJ’s binding provisional measure to ensure immediate humanitarian aid, and more critically, contribute to the Israeli genocidal war.
In order to prevent the genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, states are obligated to facilitate the work of UN agencies and international organizations, not defund them and further cripple their abilities to provide life-saving aid.
According to UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, on the occupied Palestinian territory, the states that have defunded UNRWA are “collectively punishing millions of Palestinians at the most critical time, and most likely violating their obligations under the Genocide Convention.”