CAIRO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Wednesday denounced Israeli allegations against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as baseless, saying they were part of Israel's "systematic campaign" to undermine the agency.
His remarks came after an external review of the neutrality of the UN agency concluded with a result indicating the agency has a number of procedures and mechanisms in place to ensure its neutrality.
Following Israel's allegations against the UNRWA in late January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commissioned an independent review team, led by Catherine Colonna, former French foreign minister, to investigate the agency's process of ensuring neutrality in its work.
In an AL statement, Aboul Gheit welcomed the independent panel's final report on the UNRWA, considering the Israeli allegations part of "a systematic campaign" to undermine the agency and its pivotal role in assisting nearly 6 million Palestinians.
The pan-Arab body called on countries that have paused funding for the agency based on Israel's unverified claims to review their decisions.
Several donor countries suspended funding to the UNRWA after Israel accused the agency's employees in the Gaza Strip of taking part in the Hamas attack on Israel last October.
While some countries have reinstated UNRWA funding, the agency has lost the bulk of its financial support. ■
