Norway, one of the biggest donors to the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa), will continue its funding despite suspicions that some of its employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, Oslo announced today.

“Norway has decided to continue its funding,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Ide announced in a press release.

“While I share the concern that the very serious allegations against some Unrwa staff have caused, I urge other donors to consider the wider implications of reducing Unrwa’s funding at this time of extreme humanitarian disaster,” he added.

“We should not collectively punish millions of people,” the minister added.

Israel accused Friday several Unrwa employees that they participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on its territory.

The United States immediately reacted by announcing it was ending funding to the UN aid agency, followed by a number of countries including Germany, Australia, Italy, Finland and Britain.

Unrwa, for its part it responded to the Israeli accusations by expelling those involved and promised a thorough investigation and, if such involvement is proven, legal proceedings. Israel nevertheless announced its decision to bar the agency from continuing to work in Gaza after the war.

“We have to make the distinction between what some may have done and what Unrwa represents,” the head of Norwegian diplomacy stressed.

“The people of Gaza are in urgent need of humanitarian aid and should not pay the price for the actions of others,” he stressed.