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Russian FM Slams Suspension of Funding to UN Palestinian Refugee Agency as ‘Collective Punishment’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shipenkov
Russia’s foreign minister on Tuesday slammed more than a dozen UN member states for announcing a freeze on funding for UNRWA — the UN agency solely dedicated to Palestinian refugees and their descendants — following revelations that several of its employees participated in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were murdered and over 200 seized as hostages, amid atrocities including mass rape and mutilation.
As the US House Foreign Affairs Committee prepared for a special hearing on Tuesday afternoon to examine UNRWA’s “mission and failures,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused those countries that have suspended aid of meting out “collective punishment” to Palestinians in Gaza.
“From the very beginning, condemning the October 7 attack, we clearly said that it is necessary to fight terrorism in all its manifestations, but to fight with means that do not in turn violate international humanitarian law. What happened and is happening is a collective punishment prohibited by international humanitarian law,” Lavrov declared at a press conference in Moscow following a meeting with his Gambian counterpart Momodu Tangara, in remarks reported by the official TASS news agency.
Lavrov expressed support for an investigation into the accusations. “But if the investigation is replaced by collective punishment of UNRWA, and most importantly, those to whom UNRWA provides invaluable assistance, then I believe that this is the wrong decision,” he stressed.
Russia’s criticism is unlikely to shift the position of more than a dozen countries — among them the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK and, most recently, New Zealand — that have paused funding to the agency. Moscow has faced punishing sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, with the EU agreeing on Monday to set aside billions of euros of windfall profits from Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe, the first step of a plan to help fund Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
The EU may also suspend funding to UNRWA depending on the outcome of the UN’s investigation into the participation of at least 12 UNRWA employees in the Oct. 7 atrocities. The European Commission (EC), which coordinates aid for Palestinians paid for by joint EU funds, said in a statement on Monday that it would “review the matter in light of the outcome of the investigation announced by the UN.”
A handful of western countries have meanwhile confirmed their willingness to continue funding UNRWA, including Spain, Luxembourg and Ireland.
“UNRWA’s 13,000 employees provide lifesaving assistance to 2.3 million people at an incredible personal cost, with over 100 staff killed in the last four months,” Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin wrote on X/Twitter on Sunday.
The post Russian FM Slams Suspension of Funding to UN Palestinian Refugee Agency as ‘Collective Punishment’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.