UNRWA operations in Lebanon unaffected by US funding halt and Israeli ban, official says

The director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Lebanon, Dorothee Klaus, said on Wednesday that the agency had not been affected by the U.S. decision to halt foreign aid funding or by Israel's ban on its operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Speaking to reporters from UNRWA's field office in Lebanon, Klaus stated, "UNRWA currently does not receive any U.S. funding, so the latest decisions related to the UN system have no direct impact on the agency."

The U.S. has suspended its funding for UNRWA since last year under an agreement reached by American lawmakers, extending through March 2025. 

The decision followed Israeli allegations that 12 of UNRWA's 13,000 employees in Gaza were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

The UN has since announced that it dismissed nine UNRWA employees who may have been implicated in the attack and pledged to investigate all allegations against them.

Klaus also revealed that UNRWA in Lebanon has placed four of its staff members on administrative leave as part of an internal investigation into alleged violations of the UN's neutrality principles.

She further stressed that the new Israeli law banning UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza has "no direct impact" on the agency's activities in Lebanon, affirming that "UNRWA will continue to operate at full capacity in Lebanon."