Jerusalem:

Israel will try to block the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from working in Gaza after the war, a minister said on Saturday, after Israel accused several UNRWA staff of involvement in Hamas’ October 7 attack .

Israel’s goal was to ensure “that UNRWA will not be part of the next day”, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Twitter, ex do. ,

Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday condemned Israeli “threats” against UNRWA, urging the United Nations and other international organizations “not to succumb to threats and blackmail.”

UNRWA said on Friday it had fired several staff accused by Israel of involvement in the unprecedented October 7 attack on Hamas, prompting the United States to suspend vital funding.

The agency’s head, Philippe Lazzarini, vowed to hold “accountable, including through criminal prosecution”, any UNRWA staff participating in terrorist acts.

In response to the shootings, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres promised to conduct an “immediate and comprehensive independent review of UNRWA”, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The US State Department said it has “temporarily paused additional funding” to the agency while it reviews the claims as well as a UN plan to address the concerns.

It said up to twelve employees could be involved.

Australia and Canada also said they had suspended their funding to the agency.

Israel’s sustained bombardment and siege of Gaza began shortly after Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attacks, resulting in approximately 1,140 Israeli deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The militants also captured about 250 hostages and Israel says about 132 of them remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead detainees.

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas and Gaza’s health ministry says Israeli military strikes have killed at least 26,083 people, about 70 percent of them women and children.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)