Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is calling on President Biden to reverse his decision to temporarily pause funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which was recently uncovered to be employing those who participated in the October 7 attacks in Israel. 

“Cutting off support to @Unrwa — the primary source of humanitarian aid to 2 million+ Gazans — is unacceptable,” she wrote on X. “Among an organization of 13,000 UN aid workers, risking the starvation of millions over grave allegations of 12 is indefensible. The US should restore aid immediately.”

The Biden administration announced on Friday that it would be “temporarily” pausing funding to the agency in the wake of an Israeli intelligence report that showed several agency employees participated in the attacks. 

“The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve Unrwa employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” said a State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller. “The Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for Unrwa while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”

Allies have joined that halt in funding. Germany, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Australia are among the nations that have paused all future aid pending the outcome of an investigation. The European Union announced Monday that, while support for the Palestinians at Gaza would continue via partner organizations, its own donations to the agency would be suspended at least through the end of February while the investigations continue.

The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Gutterres, says that while those involved in the terrorist attack will be held “accountable,” he called on nations to reverse their decision to halt funding. 

“The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences,” he said. “But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for Unrwa, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized.”

Republicans have long called on suspending all funding for the agency permanently. Congressman Chip Roy said last year that Speaker Johnson should include in the House Republicans’ budget a provision that barred the Biden administration from sending any more money to the agency. 

Senator Cotton has also called for a permanent end to funding. “Unrwa is effectively a subsidiary of Hamas,” he says. “It’s outrageous that Joe Biden sent taxpayer dollars to a group that engaged in terrorism, including against Americans.”

A report from the Wall Street Journal, citing Israeli intelligence, says Israel believes that as many as 10 percent of the agency’s employees have ties to either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.