UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN chief called on donor states to guarantee the flow of aid to Gaza after several halted funding to the agency for Palestinians over claims some of its staff participated in the Oct 7 attacks.
While the row over the Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) deepened, heavy fighting in the besieged Gaza Strip sent more people fleeing south towards the Egyptian border.
UNRWA said on Friday it had fired several employees over Israel's unspecified accusations about the involvement of some of its staff in Hamas's Oct 7 attack.
Donors including Germany, Britain, Italy, Australia and Finland on Saturday followed the lead of the United States, which said it had suspended additional funding to the agency over the accusations.
"While I understand their concerns - I was myself horrified by these accusations - I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA's operations," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement late on Saturday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini to quit after saying earlier the body "must be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development" after Gaza's bloodiest war.
"Mr Lazzarini please resign," Katz said on social media platform X late on Saturday in response to a post by the UNRWA chief warning that the funding cuts meant the agency's operation in Gaza was close to collapse.
Guterres said the "abhorrent alleged acts" of some UNRWA staff should not mean that its thousands of other humanitarian workers were penalised.
"The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met," he said.
Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Militants also seized about 250 hostages and Israel says around 132 of them remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead captives.
Israel's ensuing military offensive has killed at least 26,257 people, most of them women and children, in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.