Australian officials scrambled to understand allegations before Unrwa funding suspended, documents show

Foreign minister Penny Wong, announced on Saturday 27 January that the $6m in top-up funding to Unrwa would be paused ‘temporarily’ after claims about the Hamas-led attack on 7 October. Photograph: George Chan/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Australian officials scrambled to “understand what the allegations are” against Unrwa staff and complained of “precious nothing in the public domain” hours before the government suspended funding to the “vital” aid agency.

New documents obtained by Guardian Australia show how the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade rushed to gather information after Israel alleged 12 Unrwa staffers were involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel.

The emails shed light on some of the internal discussions that occurred prior to the government’s decision in late January to pause $6m in emergency top-up funding to the agency, although some parts of the documents are redacted.

Just two weeks earlier, a senior Dfat official had described Unrwa as “the largest provider of humanitarian assistance in Gaza” with a distribution network that was “vital for assistance to reach those in need”.

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, announced on Saturday 27 January that the $6m in top-up funding to Unrwa would be paused “temporarily”, after similar moves by other countries including the United States.

Emails obtained under freedom of information laws show the Australian embassy in Washington DC quickly relayed to Canberra the US decision to suspend funds to Unrwa, pending investigations. That occurred on Friday 26 January US time, or early 27 January Australian time.

The Australian ambassador to the UN, James Larsen, advised Canberra that he had “requested further info from Unrwa” and would “engage closely” with Australia’s allies and like-minded countries “for views/reactions”.

Marc Innes-Brown, a Dfat first assistant secretary responsible for the Middle East and Africa division, replied: “Thanks James. We are trying to understand what the allegations are – precious nothing in the public domain. Good to know what they are.”

Larsen promised to “continue to follow up” with Unrwa. He later confirmed he and a colleague were due to speak with the head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, early on the Saturday US time.

“Please advise any points you would like raised,” Larsen told colleagues.

Hours later, Wong issued a statement saying Australia was “deeply concerned” by the allegations and would “temporarily pause disbursement of recently announced funding”.

She welcomed Unrwa’s “immediate response, including terminating contracts and launching an investigation”.

The newly released documents show that shortly after Wong’s statement, Dfat sent an urgent request to Australian diplomats around the world, including in Europe, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Middle East.

The diplomatic cable requested that Australia’s diplomatic missions compile reports “on reactions to allegations some Unrwa staff were involved in the 7 October terror attacks”.

“Some 12,000 Palestinians are employed by Unrwa in Gaza alone and an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza are currently sheltering in Unrwa facilities,” said the cable drafted on 27 January.

It would take another seven weeks for Australia to reinstate the $6m in funding to Unrwa, after similar moves by Canada, Sweden and the European Union.

The Israeli government, which has long raised concerns about Unrwa, alleges infiltration by Hamas and other militants and argues the agency cannot be part of the solution in Gaza.

Israel is no longer approving Unrwa food convoys to the north of Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest.

The $6m in Australian funding was paused not long after Wong announced it on her trip to the Middle East in mid-January.

Internal emails from that earlier period show Dfat’s humanitarian coordinator, Beth Delaney, asked Wong and the international development minister, Pat Conroy, to approve new funding to “respond to urgent and ongoing humanitarian needs resulting from the Hamas-Israel conflict”.

“This drawdown would form part of package which includes additional support for refugee programs in Jordon and Lebanon at a time of increasing regional instability,” Delaney wrote on 10 January.

Delaney cited figures showing 1.9 million people, or 85% of the population of Gaza, were internally displaced and 2.2 million people were “at imminent risk of famine”.

“The humanitarian situation is dire and there are indications of escalating violence in the West Bank,” she wrote.

“[Unrwa’s] distribution network is vital for assistance to reach those in need.”

In the previously secret advice, Delaney said Australia would “continue to seek additional assurances to enable further confidence the risks associated with humanitarian delivery are being managed given the difficult operating environment in Gaza, specifically”.

Guardian Australia’s FOI application sought documents about the decisions to top up Unrwa funding in mid-January and then to pause it, including any assessment of the allegations against the agency.

Dfat redacted some parts of the material, citing potential damage to Australia’s international relations and the need to protect material communicated in confidence.