Moves to defund the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) were extremely ill-advised, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Sunday.
"Defunding UNRWA would be both disproportionate and dangerous," Borrell said of the agency, which is embroiled in controversy after Israel claimed several of its staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion.
"While some important donors suspended funding, there is a wide recognition that UNRWA is central to providing vital aid to more than 1.1 million people in Gaza suffering from catastrophic hunger and the outbreak of diseases."
"Defunding the agency would put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk," said Borrell.
He added in a blog article that "the agency has taken immediate steps and launched an investigation," calling the allegations serious and which should not go unpunished if true.
His comments come with more than a dozen countries, including major donors the United States, Germany, Britain and Sweden, having suspended funding to UNRWA over Israeli accusations that 12 staff members were involved in the Oct. 7 incursion.
The agency – which has received a Norwegian nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize – has warned it will have to cease operations by the end of the month should funding be significantly pulled.
The U.N. has announced an audit into UNRWA's operations saying that it would determine whether the body should be suspended based on the results of that investigation.
Borrell said he was convinced the inquiry would be completed before the launch of an independent external investigation ahead of the next payment from the European Commission due at month's end.
Borrell added that suspended total funds currently amount to "more than $440 million, or around half the agency's expected funds for 2024."
He warned such a shortfall called into danger the agency's very existence.
Israel's war on Gaza – in response to Oct. 7 – has killed nearly 27,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed last week that the U.N. agency had been "totally infiltrated" by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.