The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said he was cautiously optimistic some donors would start funding it again within weeks, warning it was "at risk of death" after Israel alleged some of its staff took part in the 7 October Hamas attack.
An independent review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been launched under French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, and the final report is expected to be published next month.
"I am cautiously optimistic that within the next few weeks, and also following the publication of Catherine Colonna's report, a number of donors will return," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS that was aired on Saturday.
Lazzarini told RTS that UNRWA was at "risk of death, at risk of dismantlement".
Colonna, whose work on the review began in mid-February, said on Saturday she would visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Amman next week.
UNRWA, which provides aid and essential services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and across the region, has been in crisis since Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza of involvement in the attack on Israel that triggered the war in the Palestinian enclave.
The allegations prompted several countries, including the United States, to pause funding.
When the allegations emerged, UNRWA fired some staff members, saying it acted to protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, and an independent internal UN investigation was launched.
UNRWA said some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that staff took part in the attack, according to a report by the agency dated February.
"What is at stake is the fate of the Palestinians today in Gaza in the short term who are going through an absolutely unprecedented humanitarian crisis," Lazzarini told RTS.
UNRWA runs schools, healthcare clinics and other social services in Gaza, and distributes humanitarian aid. The UN has said some 3,000 members of staff are still working to deliver aid in the enclave, where it says 576,000 people - one quarter of the population - are a step away from famine.
"The agency I currently manage is the only agency that delivers public services to Palestinian refugees," Lazzarini said.
"We are the quasi-ministry of education, of primary health. If we were to get rid of such a body, who would bring back the million girls and boys who are traumatised in the Gaza Strip today back to a learning environment?"
Sweden, Canada to resume funding
Sweden and Canada have announced they will resume funding of UNWRA.
Sweden has said it was resuming aid, with an initial disbursement of $20 million, after receiving assurances of extra checks on its spending and personnel.
"The government has allocated 400 million kronor to UNRWA for the year 2024. Today's decision concerns a first payment of 200 million kronor," the Swedish government said in a statement.
It said that to unblock the aid, UNRWA had agreed to "allow controls, independent audits, to strengthen internal supervision and extra controls of personnel."
Meanwhile, Canada's Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen told reporters that "Canada's funding for UNRWA will resume".
"We're resuming funding to UNRWA because of the dire humanitarian situation on the ground," he explained, noting that Canada was the first G7 nation to resume funding.
About 15 countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany and Japan, suspended funding to UNRWA at the end of January.
The moves slashed the agency's funds by €411 million, more than half of the funds it had received in 2023.
