The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday warned that halting funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency would entail "catastrophic consequences" for people in war-torn Gaza.
"Decisions by various countries to pause funds for UNRWA, the largest supplier of humanitarian aid in this crisis, will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
"No other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need. We appeal for these announcements to be reconsidered."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday described the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) as "the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza" and appealed to all countries to "guarantee the continuity of UNRWA's life-saving work."