Israel-Hamas war: UNRWA may be forced to end lifesaving aid due to funding suspension, official says
UNRWA #UNRWA
Palestinian woman pulled alive from the rubble says goodbye to mother killed by Israeli airstrike
A house in Rafah was hit by Israeli airstrikes, leading to the deaths of three people seeking shelter inside.
An NBC News camera crew captured the moment rescuers pulled 30-year-old Najwa Rahma from the rubble. A few feet away, her sister was also found under the rubble and taken to the hospital.
Despite her pain and injuries, Najwa refused care as she was calling out and pointing to the spot where her mother was. While rescuers were digging her mother’s body out, Najwa repeatedly screamed “Is she alive? Is my mother alive?”
Rescuers announced her mother death, to which Najwa begged to wish her mother farewell and kiss her forehead one last time.
“Mother, mother,” Najwa is heard calling. “Allah will give you peace. I love you, mother.”
UNRWA may be forced to end lifesaving aid due to funding suspension, commissioner-general says
Lifesaving aid provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East may end due to the suspension of funding from multiple countries, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.
The U.S., U.K., Canada, Italy and Finland are among the countries that have suspended funding to the UNRWA pending an investigation into allegations that members of staff participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.
“It is shocking to see a suspension of funds to the Agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff, especially given the immediate action that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and asking for a transparent independent investigation,” Lazzarini said. “The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the highest investigative authority in the UN system, has already been seized of this very serious matter.”
The UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza and over 2 million people in the enclave depend on the agency for survival, according to Lazzarini.
“It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an Agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region,” he said. “UNRWA shares the list of all its staff with host countries every year, including Israel. The Agency never received any concerns on specific staff members.”
Lazzarini urged countries that have suspended funding to UNRWA to reconsider before the agency “is forced to suspend its humanitarian response.”
“The lives of people in Gaza depend on this support and so does regional stability,” he said.
Germany joins nations pausing U.N. relief agency funding
Germany is the latest major donor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to pause funding pending an investigation of allegations 12 employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The country’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it would pause any new funding until such an investigation was complete. No UNRWA funding was in the pipeline as of today, the ministry said.
The ministry added that Germany recently increased funding for the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF, originally know as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, by 7 million euros total ($7.6 million USD) as part of its humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Pope Francis renews call for cease-fire
Pope Francis made a renewed call for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying that because of global conflict “too many children continue to suffer, to be exploited and to die.” Francis made the remarks during an address to an Italian nonprofit fundraising for a Rwandan orphanage.
Gaza Health Ministry and PRCS report damages at the Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital after attack
The Gaza Ministry of Health and the Palestine Red Crescent Society have reported injuries and damage at the Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis following what they say were attacks from Israel on the medical centers.
The PRCS said a displaced person was killed and three others were injured at Al-Amal Hospital due to the Israeli attack.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, water tanks at Nasser Medical Complex were damaged as a result of shrapnel from Israeli fire, which “led to water leakage into the buildings and the intensive care unit, and the lack of water in the dialysis center.”
“The Israeli occupation deliberately paralyzes the capabilities of the Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis through siege, targeting, and preventing ambulance movement,” said Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Gaza Ministry of Health.
In response to claims that the Israeli forces have been attacking the hospital, the Israel Defense Forces said it’s “carrying out precise operations against the Hamas terrorist organization in Khan Yunis.”
The statement added that “IDF intelligence indicates that Hamas terrorists are operating from inside and around the Nasser hospital and Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis.”
NBC News is unable to verify these claims.
Finland suspends funding to UNRWA
Finland has joined a group of countries that have suspended funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East following allegations that some of its members assisted in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the allegations “serious” and called for “an independent and thorough investigation of the matter.”
“We must make sure that not a single euro of Finland’s money goes to Hamas or other terrorists,” Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio said in a statement.
Prior to the suspension, the country had a four-year agreement with UNRWA that is meant to end in 2026 to provide 5 million euros a year.
Photos: Observers and survivors mark Holocaust Remembrance Day
Survivors, their families and other visitors commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday, which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 1945.
A rose on the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.Christoph Soeder / dpa / picture alliance via Getty Images
A visitor pays their respects at the Auschwitz-Birkenau former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Oswiecim, Poland.Bartosz Siedlik / AFP – Getty Images
Director of the Auschwitz Museum Piotr Cywinski, center, along with other officials, take lit candles to the monument at the Birkenau Nazi death camp during a ceremony in Oswiecim, Poland.Czarek Sokolowski / AP
A white rose is placed at the “Gleis 17,” Track 17, the memorial site for the train transportation from Berlin to the camp in Berlin.Markus Schreiber / AP
Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser during the wreath-laying ceremony at the Ravensbruck Memorial, Furstenberg/Havel, Germany.Monika Skolimowska / dpa via AP
A man places a candle next to the monument at the Birkenau Nazi death camp during a ceremony in Oswiecim, Poland.Czarek Sokolowski / APNetanyahu strikes out at ICJ ruling in speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day
TEL AVIV — Netanyahu struck out at yesterday’s ruling from the International Court of Justice tonight as he delivered a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Netanyahu also repeated his stance that any investigation into Israeli forces’ response to the Oct. 7 attacks “should be done after the war and not during.”
“I said my opinion: The investigations and checks should be done after the war and not during,” he said. “I do not want officers, commanders and statesman to deal with sourcing attorneys,” he said. “This is a mistake. The only necessary thing is to deal with the victory of the war.”
His comments came as hundreds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” to mark the day of remembrance.
“Never again is now!” one speaker said at the somber demonstration organized by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, which represents the loved ones of those held hostage by Hamas.
Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv tonight to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.Chantal Da SilvaPalestine ambassador to the U.N. on Holocaust Remembrance Day: ‘No one can instrumentalize the Holocaust to justify atrocities’
In a speech today, Majed Bamya, the ambassador of the state of Palestine to the U.N., honored the victims of the Holocaust while emphasizing that the horrors of the genocide should never be used to justify other atrocities.
“The Israel permanent representative stood in the Security Council and placed a yellow star on his jacket, evoking the Holocaust, while at the same time justifying the bombings that are killing Palestinian civilians by the thousands, children by the thousands,” Bamya said while addressing the U.N. Security Council. “No one can instrumentalize the Holocaust to justify atrocities, no one.”
Bamya said the Holocaust “was one of the worst horrors humanity ever witnessed” and “led us to elaborate the very rules that are being breached today,” including the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration for Human Rights.
“It led us to adopt the Rome Statute, 50 years too late, and build a quote with a universal calling. Not for one group against another, but for all of humanity,” Bamya said.
He then posed the questions: “Are we not part of that human family? Are Palestinian civilian lives less sacred? Does anyone here agree with Israel that we are subhumans?”
Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns Israel’s ‘systematic campaign of incitement’ against UNRWA
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli government’s “systematic campaign of incitement” against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in a statement today.
The ministry called the situation “premeditated and prejudicial to eliminate the refugee issue” and “hidden hostility that has been exposed over the past years.” It accused Israel of pre-anticipating investigations into its allegations.
“In this context, the Ministry expresses its strong astonishment at the measures taken by some countries before the completion of the United Nations investigations and demands that they immediately withdraw them in accordance with the law and legal procedures,” the ministry said of the decision to suspend funding to the UNRWA by countries including the U.S., U.K. and Italy.
The ministry warned that if the allegations against UNRWA members aiding in the events of Oct. 7 are proven to be true, it “must not prejudice UNRWA and its powers and high-level humanitarian missions.”
What could the cutting of UNRWA funding mean for Gaza?
The suspension of funding for the UNRWA, the U.N.’s aid agency in the Gaza Strip, might not spell financial collapse for the organization even though need for the organization’s humanitarian relief efforts on the ground is “overwhelming,” experts told NBC News today.
Geoffrey Cordell, the director of Social Development Consulting who works between London and Gaza, said that although countries such as the U.S., U.K., Italy, Australia and Canada have announced they are suspending donations to the organization, funding could be topped up by other donor countries.
“Turkey could be very inclined to make up that money, and the E.U. might compensate as a whole for a lack of funds from some of its members,” he said. Turkey, which is increasingly critical of Israel, is the 10th largest donor to the organization. The U.S., the E.U. and Germany are its largest funders. Cuts to funding could be “symbolic, totemic gestures” from states allied to Israel that expect their donations to be made up elsewhere, he added.
Cordell added that the most pressing humanitarian problem for Gazans was the ongoing restriction of aid already at the border, rather than the future of funding for the organization.
Israeli Holocaust survivor says the Oct. 7 Hamas attack revived childhood trauma
ASHKELON, Israel — Gad Partok was 10 years old in 1942 when Nazis stormed his street in the coastal Tunisian town of Nabeul. He saw them going door to door, hauling out his neighbors, shooting them and burning down their homes.
Like so many Jews who moved to Israel after the war, Partok believed Israel would be a place where he would finally be free from persecution.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a steady reminder through the decades that safety is not absolute, and security comes at a cost. But Oct. 7, 2023 — the day Hamas committed the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust — shattered his belief in Israel as a haven.
The 93-year-old watched from his living room as TV news played videos of Hamas militants tearing through communities just a few kilometers (miles) from where he lives in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. As rockets fired from Gaza boomed overhead, Partok saw footage of the militants killing, pillaging and rounding up hostages.
“I thought — what, is this the same period of those Nazis? It can’t be,” Partok said, clenching his fists as he spoke.
Saturday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which commemorates the killing of 6 million Jews and many other groups by the Nazis and their collaborators. In Israel — a country with roughly half of the world’s Holocaust survivors — the day carries extra weight because of the recent trauma of Oct. 7.
A Houthi missile shot and ignited an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, forcing a crew on the commercial ship into lifeboats. The attack appears to have caused the most serious damage to any of the ships hit by Houthi missiles since the Israel-Hamas war started.
“Attack on the oil tanker Marlin Luanda in the Gulf of Aden. The FREMM-DA Alsace (France), with the USS Carney (U.S.) & INS Visakhapatnam (India), assisted the tanker and its crew (Sri Lanka) & (India) hit by a Houthi missile,” the French Navy said in a post on X. “After 20 hours of fighting, the fire was brought under control and the crew was safe.”
Airstrike kills 3 Palestinians in southern Gaza
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Two women and a man were killed early Saturday in what witnesses said was an Israeli airstrike on a home in the southernmost part of Gaza, as Israel pursued its military offensive against the Palestinian enclave.
The strike came less than a day after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza. As part of its binding ruling, the top United Nations court asked Israel for a compliance report in a month, meaning the military’s conduct will be under increasing scrutiny.
The court stopped short of ordering a cease-fire, but the orders its judges issued were in part a stinging rebuke of the army’s conduct so far in Israel’s nearly four-month-long war against Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Friday’s decision came in a case brought by South Africa, which alleged Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian territory’s people, a charge Israel vehemently denies.
The war has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, destroyed vast swaths of Gaza and displaced nearly 85% of a population of 2.3 million people. It was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages.
Palestine Red Crescent pleads for protection as its headquarters come under attack
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), a medical aid organization headquartered in Khan Younis, has called on the international community to provide it with protection for its emergency medical services teams amid continuing fighting in the southern city.
The PRCS accused Israel of bombardments in the vicinity of Al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis and the group’s branch headquarters, “jeopardizing the safety of medical staff, the wounded, patients, and approximately 7,000 displaced individuals.”
Fighting in the immediate area was in its sixth consecutive day, they said, though the hospital and headquarters had been targeted for four weeks.
The hospital has been “severely damaged” over the course of fighting, with curfews and blockades hindering the movement of ambulances and emergency medical teams, calling for “partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to intervene immediately and urgently to protect Al-Amal Hospital.”
On Monday, the U.S called for Israel to protect staff and patients inside hospitals as IDF forces stormed Al-Khair hospital in the south.
The PRCS separately reported that a 28-year-old had died after being shot in the courtyard of Al-Amal hospital today.
U.K. is the fifth country to pause funding to U.N.’s Palestine aid agency
“The UK is appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.
“The U.K. is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations,” it added.
It is the fifth country to announce a suspension in funding to UNRWA in 24 hours, following announcements from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Italy.
Fire on an oil tanker struck by a Houthi missle is now extinguished
Trafigura, the company that owns the Marlin Luanda, confirmed that the fire that blazed on the ship overnight is now extinguished and there were no injuries.
The ship, with a cargo of highly flammable naphtha, a petroleum product, was attacked yesterday by Houthi militants.
The U.K. said the government, along with its allies, “reserve the right to respond appropriately,” for the attack.
Italy suspends funding to UNRWA, joining U.S., Canada and Australia
“The Italian government suspended funding UNRWA after the atrocious attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October. Allied countries have recently made the same decision,” said Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The UNRWA said yesterday it had fired the staffers accused by Israel of involvement in the attacks, and that it had opened an internal investigation.
The U.N. agency provides shelters, schools and humanitarian aid in Gaza, and is primarily funded by donations from countries in the E.U. and the U.S.
Israel’s foreign minister calls for a halt to UNRWA activities in Gaza after the war
Israel’s foreign minister has accused the UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, of serving as the “civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza,” as he said that Israel was working to garner transnational support for to stop the agency’s activities after the end of the war.
The UNRWA will “not be part of the day after,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said, accusing the agency of obstructing peace and “aiding terror activities.”
Katz’s statements followed accusations from Israel that several UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7.
The UNRWA has since fired the 12 accused aid workers. It was not immediately clear how the workers were accused of participating, or their level of seniority. The agency employs about 13,000 Palestinians.
Israel has long accused the UNRWA of colluding with Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza and launched the attacks on Oct. 7.
But Israel has also privately favored the agency as an alternative, nonthreatening governing body to Hamas, providing some civilian infrastructure and services through international donations from countries allied to Israel, including the U.S. and Germany.
At least 170 killed in 18 strikes in the last 24 hours, Gaza health ministry says
More than 170 people have been killed in 18 separate Israeli attacks on Gaza over the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry in Gaza, adding that the total number of casualties is unclear as rubble on the roads is limiting ambulance access.
The figures put Gaza’s death toll over 26,200, with thousands more missing and presumed dead, and another 64,800 injured.
PLO calls for resumption of funding to UNRWA
“We call on the countries that announced the cessation of their support for #UNRWA to immediately reverse their decision, which entails great political and humanitarian relief risks,” said Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in a post on X today.
The UNRWA needs “maximum support” in light of continuing war in Gaza, rather than dips in funding, he added. The PLO is internationally recognized as the representative of the Palestinian people.
Countries including the U.S. and Australia have announced temporary suspensions to funds for the agency following reports that up to 12 of its staffers participated in the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7.
The UNRWA provides relief and aid to civilians living in Gaza and employs about 13,000 Palestinians. More than 1.4 million internally displaced people are currently sheltering inside and around temporary UNRWA facilities.
U.S. and U.K. strike Yemeni port, Houthis say
The U.S. and the U.K. have targeted the Ras Issa area of Al-Hudaydah in two raids on the port city on the Red Sea, Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run TV channel said today.
It did not specify the extent of the damage or if there were any casualties.
NBC News was unable to independently verify this report. The raids follow a strike against a Houthi anti-ship missile by the U.S early this morning.
Aftermath of a strike in Rafah
Fatima Shbair / AP
A man shovels rubble following a strike in Rafah today.
Hamas says accusations againt UNRWA employees an attempt to cut off aid
Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza, described accusations from Israeli authorities that staff members working for the U.N.’s agency for Palestinian refugees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks as “hollow.”
In a statement today, it accused Israel of incitement against the “international institutions that contribute to the relief of our people.”
Hamas denied Israel’s accusations, saying they had the aim of “cutting off [UNRWA’s] funding and depriving our people of their right to the services of these international agencies,” and called on the U.N. “not to yield to the threats and blackmails.”
Australia to join U.S. and Canada in pausing funding to UNRWA
Australia will temporarily pause funding to the U.N.’s agency for Palestinian refugees amid reports that staffers in Gaza were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the foreign minister has said.
“Allegations UNRWA staff were involved in the abhorrent October 7 terror attacks are deeply concerning,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement today. “We are speaking with partners and will temporarily pause disbursement of recent funding.”
The U.S. and Canada also paused funding to the agency after they said Friday that Israeli authorities had notified them of the involvement of several staff members in the October attacks. The contracts of accused staff members were terminated and an investigation launched, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said yesterday.
The UNRWA, whose biggest donors include the U.S., E.U. and Germany, is the primary U.N. agency tasked with providing aid and relief to civilians in Gaza. More than 1.4 million internally displaced people are living inside or around its shelters and facilities in Gaza and hundred of thousands are dependent on the agency for food and supplies.
UNRWA warns of liver infection spreading in informal camps in Gaza
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said hepatitis A infections are spreading in informal camps in Gaza “due to overcrowding and lack of clean water and proper sanitary.”
UNRWA Partners said in a statement on X today that the UNRWA has been watching the situation and suspected cases in January are 16 times higher than those last November.
“The massive increase reflects worsening living conditions in Gaza, particularly shortage of safe water and inadequate sanitation and hygiene,” it added.
Hepatitis A is a type of short-term liver infection caused by a virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adding that it would not become chronic.
Israel’s El Al suspends South Africa route over World Court case
El Al Israel Airlines said today it was suspending its route to Johannesburg at the end of March, citing a steep drop in demand after South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the World Court.
Israel’s flag carrier flies up to twice weekly nonstop to Johannesburg.
“Israelis don’t want to fly to South Africa,” said an El Al spokesperson. “They are canceling flights and planes are pretty empty. … We understand it’s the situation because it was different before.”
The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a ruling that could have far-reaching consequences though the court has no power to enforce it. The United Nations’ top court stopped short of ordering the cease-fire requested by South Africa.
Pediatrician on crisis in Gaza: ‘I ran out of words to describe this’
Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, an intensive care pediatrician, describes the desperate scenario facing mothers in Gaza giving birth in the throes of war.
U.S. strikes Houthi missile in Yemen; oil tanker hit earlier
The U.S. military struck what it said was a missile in Houthi-controlled Yemen in the latest attack against the Iran-backed militants who have been firing at commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The strike was carried out around 3:45 a.m. Saturday local time and targeted an anti-ship missile aimed at the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
“It presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy ships in the region. U.S. Forces subsequently struck and destroyed the missile in self-defense,” Central Command, known as CENTCOM, said.
The U.S. military action follows reports of a commercial vessel that was struck by a missile, but the military did not link that attack to the strike in Yemen in its statement.
The Marlin Luanda was struck by a Houthi missile while in the Gulf of Aden earlier today, sparking a fire in the ship’s cargo tank, two U.S. defense officials said.
Commodity trading company Trafigura said the Marlin Luanda, a petroleum products tanker, was hit by a missile in the Gulf as it was transiting the Red Sea.
“We remain in contact with the vessel and are monitoring the situation carefully. Military ships in the region are underway to provide assistance,” the company said in a statement on its website. The fire was in one cargo tank on the starboard side, and firefighting efforts were taken in response, it said.
IDF calls for residents of Khan Younis refugee camp, other neighborhoods to evacuate
The Israel Defense Forces urged residents of some neighborhoods in western Khan Younis in southern Gaza to leave the areas immediately.
Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesperson for the Arab media, posted a map of southern Gaza on X today to show the areas that need to be evacuated as soon as possible, including al-Nasr, al-Amal, the city center and Khan Younis refugee camp.
He added that all the residents in these areas need to move via designated al-Bahr Street to al-Mawasi, a humanitarian area near the coast.
An Israeli tank and other military vehicles guard a position as Palestinians flee Khan Younis in southern Gaza yesterday.AFP – Getty Images