UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres met behind closed doors with 35 donor nations and appealed again for a restoration of funding and new donations for the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The UN chief briefed the ambassadors, including from the European Union, late on Tuesday on actions he had taken following accusations that 12 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) participated in Hamas’ October 7 attacks in southern Israel.

He has called the Israeli allegations “horrific” and launched an investigation.

Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters after the meeting that the secretary-general appealed to many countries that suspended funding to UNRWA after the allegations “to reconsider” and urged other countries “including those in the region, to step up to the plate.”

Mr Mansour said 153 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since October 7 — the largest number of UN personnel killed in an operation since World War II — and urged donors not to take steps “that constitute a collective punishment against millions of Palestinian refugees.”

He praised Norway, Spain and others who said they would not suspend aid.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters earlier that “no other organisation than UNRWA has the infrastructure to do what they do” in Gaza and the Middle East and “it’s not feasible in any way, shape or form” to quickly replace the UN agency.

Mr Dujarric also told reporters that every year UNRWA provides a list of its 13,000 staff in Gaza to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

“As far as I’m told by UNRWA, concerns have not been raised when the list of staff have been shared,” he said.