UNRWA has funding until end of August: agency chief

The head of the embattled United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees said Tuesday that it had secured funding until the end of August.

“We have cash until end of August,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza but has been facing a cash crunch since January, when many countries suspended funding after Israel accused a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack by Hamas.

The body is having financial difficulties. Many nations stopped giving money to UNRWA earlier this year in response to Israel’s accusations that certain employees were complicit in the Hamas attack on October 7.

Since then, financing has resumed in all but two of those nations—the United States and Great Britain.