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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.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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