Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand will be making its annual payment of $1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
It came after the government said in January that it would “assess the situation” in Gaza before releasing the planned payment.
The comments followed allegations by Israeli intelligence that 12 members of UNRWA’s staff were involved in Hamas' deadly October 7 attack on Israel.
In a post to X this morning, Peters announced New Zealand would be making its $1 million payment “on schedule and in coming days”.
He said it follows “careful consideration” of the UN’s response to the allegations – which saw external and internal investigations launched.
“It also reflects assurances received from the UN Secretary-General about remedial work underway to enhance UNRWA’s neutrality,” Peters said.
New Zealand had previously announced four lots of support for the humanitarian crisis totalling $17 million, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said.
The UNRWA payment is the final one in a current three-year arrangement.
Several countries suspended funds to UNRWA as a result of the allegations levelled at some of its staff, including US, UK and Australia.
Australia is among countries to have since restored their funds.
* An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the US had restored funding to UNRWA. The US State Department said in April that it supports UNRWA's work in Gaza and the region but was now prevented by a law passed in Congress from funding the organisation so it was looking at other ways to provide humanitarian assistance.
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