Pakistan decries funding halt to UN agency in Palestine

Pakistan on Thursday expressed deep concern over the suspension of funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), saying the action goes against the world court's recent decision on war crimes in Gaza.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson for the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, said the suspension of funding to the agency during the ongoing war and suffering in Gaza also goes against the spirit of the ICJ's provisional measures.

"We urge reconsideration of the decision to suspend funding to UNRWA which has a crucial role in protecting and supporting the Palestinian people," Baloch told reporters in Islamabad.

She also condemned the Israeli forces' attack on Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin and called it an act of war crime.

"This event is the latest in a series of inhumane attacks on hospitals which fall in the category of war crimes being perpetrated against the people of Palestine," she said.

Islamabad also called for the full implementation of ICJ's provisional judgment to uphold human rights, dignity, and identity of the Palestinian people as per the UN Charter and relevant resolutions, and international law.

Last week, the UNRWA termed humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip "catastrophic," particularly in northern Gaza and the Gaza City.

On Sunday, the Arab League also warned of grave consequences of suspending funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and said the suspension of funding aims to abandon relief efforts for millions of Palestinian refugees.

The agency's funding crisis was sparked by Israeli allegations that some of its employees in the Gaza Strip took part in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel.

The U.S., UK, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Finland, and Japan have suspended funding for the agency, which was established in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

UN relief chief Martin Griffiths on Wednesday also voiced support for UNRWA and said the UN agency is playing an indispensable role in terms of distribution, warehousing, logistics and human resources, with 3,000 staff responding to the current crisis.