“The United Nations is taking swift action following the extremely serious allegations against several UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff members,” Guterres said Sunday, adding the UN’s oversight body has already launched an investigation and an independent review is forthcoming.

“Any UN employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”

The secretary-general urged countries, however, to continue financial assistance to the UNRWA that supports 2 million Gazans who depend on the “critical aid” for “daily survival”, warning the agency’s current funding “will not allow it to meet all requirements to support them in February”.

In the wake of the allegations against the UNRWA, nine countries have so far paused funding for the main UN agency in Gaza.

“While I understand their concerns – I was myself horrified by these accusations – I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations,” Guterres said.

“The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences. 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. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met,” he added.

The head of the UNRWA has also said the decision to suspend aid to the UN Palestinian refugee agency by several Western countries is a “collective punishment”.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said he was shocked such decisions were taken as “famine looms” in Gaza, which has been devastated by nearly four months of relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed almost 26,500 people.

The agency, with its 13,000 employees in Gaza, is the main organisation aiding Gaza’s population amid the humanitarian disaster. More than two million of the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people depend on the UNRWA for “sheer survival”, including food and shelter, Lazzarini added, warning this lifeline can “collapse any time now”.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, took Guterres to task over his call for nations to restore their funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Erdan said in a post on X the United Nations ignored evidence over UNRWA’s alleged involvement with Hamas, asserting Guterres “called to fund an organisation that is deeply contaminated with terrorism”.

The Israeli envoy called on all UNRWA donors to suspend funding as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows worse by the day for the 2.3 million people caught up in the war.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz earlier called on Lazzarini to quit saying the UN body “must be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development”.

At least 165 Palestinians were killed and 290 others injured in the last 24 hours as Israel continues its onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, the territory’s health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

“The Israeli occupation committed 19 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 165 martyrs and 290 injured during the past 24 hours,” the ministry noted.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

Despite the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling, Israel has continued its offensive on Gaza, killing at least 26,422 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 65,087 since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Although the proposed deal would not end the war outright, US officials hope the agreement can lay the groundwork for a resolution to the conflict, the AP said.

The report broadly confirms an earlier New York Times report that said US negotiators are “edging closer” to a deal to halt the war for about two months in exchange for the release of captives.

The daily had reported US-led negotiators are nearing a deal that would see Israel halt the war in Gaza for about two months in exchange for the release of more than 100 captives held by Hamas,

Negotiators have worked out a draft agreement merging proposals by Israel and Hamas that will be subject to talks in Paris on Sunday, the newspaper reported on Saturday.

Despite significant disagreements between the sides, negotiators are “cautiously optimistic” that a deal is within reach, the Times added.

The Times report cites unnamed US officials who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions.

On Dec. 1 last year, a temporary pause between Hamas and Israel mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US ended after seven days, during which prisoners were exchanged and limited humanitarian aid was allowed into the territory, home to about 2.3 million Palestinians.

Israel estimates that there are approximately 136 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, according to media reports and statements from Israeli officials.

Since Oct. 7 last year, the Israeli army has been conducting a destructive war in the Gaza Strip resulting in 26,500 deaths and more than 64,000 injuries, most of them women and children, say Palestinian authorities, and causing massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the United Nations.

Israel has estimated Hamas casualties at 10,000 killed and 16,000 wounded, while the recently published US estimates were somewhat lower.