The American newspaper "The New York Times" revealed the extent of the losses that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ("UNRWA") will suffer by the end of the current February, with the decision of several countries to suspend financial aid to the UN agency operating in the Gaza Strip.

"The New York Times" indicated that it reviewed internal documents of the organization, showing that it will lose an amount of 65 million dollars by the end of the current month, amid the suspension of aid by at least 18 countries and institutions, following accusations made by Israel against agency employees, alleging their participation in the attacks launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7.

Suspension processes are expected to take time before coming into effect, as countries deliver their donations throughout the year. For example, the United States provided its financial aid in January as a first installment covering expenses for several months, with the second installment to be delivered in next May, according to the documents.

However, the newspaper pointed out that Finland defaulted on paying 5.4 million dollars last January, and it is expected that three other countries—Germany, Japan, and Sweden—will default on paying the aid scheduled for this February, with a combined value of about 60 million dollars.

UNRWA spokeswoman Tamara Al-Rifai clarified that due to the lack of large cash reserves at the agency, this suspension and the withholding of aid will cause a lack of funds to pay the salaries of about 30,000 employees across the Middle East in March, including 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres decided to appoint an independent group to conduct a review of UNRWA's work, led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

According to a UNRWA statement, the independent group will work on assessing whether the agency "is doing everything it can to ensure its neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious violations when they occur." Ms. Catherine Colonna will work with three research organizations: the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

The group is scheduled to start its work on February 14, with an initial report to be presented to the UN Secretary-General in late March, followed by a final report expected to be published at the end of April.

The UN spokesman said on Monday that Guterres met with the head of UNRWA's internal investigations unit to ensure that investigations into the Israeli allegations against agency employees are conducted "as quickly and effectively as possible," according to Reuters.

Israel accused 12 of the agency's 30,000 employees of involvement in the Hamas attack on October 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel circulated an intelligence dossier claiming that "some UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 attack from Gaza," describing the agency as "infiltrated by Hamas."

Following the accusations, 13 countries suspended their funding to the agency, pending clarifications.

The United States considered that UNRWA must take measures "to prevent such things from happening again," while acknowledging the "vital" role of the agency.

Heads of UN humanitarian agencies warned in a joint statement that cutting funding will have "catastrophic consequences" for Gaza, where more than half of the population of 2.3 million relies on the agency for daily aid.