EU says it is reviewing funding for UNRWA, Romania suspends payments

The EU is demanding an “urgent” audit of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and says it is reviewing funding, following Israeli allegations that some staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attack.

The audit should be led by European Commission-appointed experts and be conducted alongside a UN investigation into the claims, commission spokesman Eric Mamer tells journalists.

The EU was the agency’s third largest funder in 2022, behind the US and Germany, which have already announced funding freezes.

Romania’s foreign ministry says it has also suspended its voluntary payments to UNRWA.

“We express our full confidence that the UN investigation will clarify the situation as soon as possible,” the ministry says. “Until the investigation is concluded, the ministry will … not make any new voluntary contributions to UNRWA.”