Israeli allegations of Unrwa staff links to terrorism cost aid agency dearly

A rigorous inquiry has not backed up claims of ties to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which led to loss of $450m at time of acute need in Gaza

Unsupported Israeli allegations about Unrwa links to terrorism led major donors to cut $450m in funding to the main humanitarian agency working in Gaza at a time when its people were dying in droves.

Three months later, the situation has only worsened with the onset of a human-made famine on top of the bombing, the collapse of health care, the lack of water and the epidemics. And despite a rigorous inquiry by the former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, supported by three well-respected research institutes, there is still no evidence for the claim that significant numbers of Unrwa employees have Hamas or Islamic Jihad ties.