Japan joined a growing list of countries on Sunday to put a halt to providing funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees, citing concerns about allegations that staff members of the agency participated in the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.

Also putting a stop to the funding temporarily are the U.S., Germany, U.K., Canada and at least five other countries.

Israel released evidence showing that a dozen of the organization’s employees in Gaza participated in the massacre of 1,200 Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Against this backdrop, Japan is extremely concerned about the alleged involvement of UNRWA staff members in the terror attack on Israel on October 7 last year,” Foreign Press Secretary Kobayashi Maki from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan said. “In response, Japan has decided to suspend additional funding to UNRWA for the time being while UNRWA conducts an investigation into the matter and considers measures to address the allegations.”

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations asked countries that placed temporary halts on providing funding for UNRWA to continue on Jan. 28, 2024.  (Kiara Worth /COP28 via Getty Images)

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan fired back at Guterres’ call for countries to renew their funding for UNRWA.

“The UN Secretary-General has proven once again that the security of the citizens of Israel is not really important for him,” Erdan said. “After years in which he ignored the evidence presented to him personally about UNRWA’s support and involvement in incitement and terrorism, and before he conducted a comprehensive investigation to locate all Hamas terrorists in UNRWA, he called to fund an organization that is deeply contaminated with terrorism.”

Erdan said every country that continues to fund the agency before a comprehensive investigation can be conducted should be aware that the money may be used for terrorism.

He also said the aid transferred to UNRWA could reach Hamas terrorists instead of the people who need it in Gaza.

“I call on all donor states to suspend their support and demand an in-depth investigation that will investigate the involvement of all UNRWA employees in terror,” the ambassador said.