New Zealand suspends funding to embattled UN agency in Gaza

New Zealand is joining the list of countries that have suspended funding to the embattled UN Palestinian refugee agency following Israeli allegations that some staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attack.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand had paused funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) until the allegations are investigated.

The agency has fired several staff members over Israel’s accusations and promised a thorough investigation into the claims.

Israel has vowed to stop the agency’s work in Gaza after the war.

“The allegations are incredibly serious. It’s important they are properly understood and investigated,” Luxon told reporters.

New Zealand will not “be making any further contributions” to UNRWA until foreign minister Winston Peters “says it’s good to do so,” Luxon added.

The United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany are among the other countries to have already suspended funding to UNRWA, which has been at the heart of humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

Luxon said New Zealand had been providing UNRWA with about NZ$1 million (US$613,260) in yearly funding.

The European Union on Monday demanded an “urgent” audit of the UN Palestinian refugee agency and is also reviewing funding.

US vows to take ‘all necessary actions’ to defend American forces after deadly drone attack

The United States vowed to take “all necessary actions” to defend American forces after a drone attack killed three US troops in Jordan, while Qatar said it hoped US retaliation would not damage regional security or undercut progress toward a new Gaza hostage-release deal.

Sunday’s attack by Iran-backed militants was the first deadly strike against US troops since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October and marks a major escalation in tensions that have engulfed the Middle East.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday the United States did not want a wider war with Iran or in the region, “but we got to do what we have to do.”

Iran has denied any role. Biden has previously ordered retaliatory attacks on Iran-backed groups but has so far stopped short of hitting Iran directly.

“Have no doubt – we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” Biden said on Sunday.

Earlier, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al Thani told a Washington think tank he hoped US retaliation would not undercut progress toward a new hostage release deal in talks.

He said potential US retaliation “will definitely have an impact on regional security and we hope things get contained.”

CIA Director William Burns met with the Qatari PM as well as the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and the head of Egyptian intelligence, on Sunday in Paris for talks described as constructive by Israel, Qatar and the US, albeit with significant gaps remaining.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Paris talks raised hope that a Qatar-mediated negotiating process could resume. Before collapsing, the mechanism led to a week-long ceasefire agreement in November when Hamas freed around 100 hostages.

A framework for a possible second deal developed in Paris “is a strong one and a compelling one that … offers hope that we can get back into this process,” Blinken said at a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“Hamas will have to make its own decisions,” said Blinken, who declined to reveal details of the proposal.

US weighs strong response to deadly drone attack on forces in Jordan

Washington is weighing a “powerful” response to the deadly drone strike in Jordan this weekend that killed three US service members and wounded many, CNN reports, citing US officials.

They were the first US fatalities in months of strikes against American forces across the Middle East by Iranian-backed militias amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, increasing the risk of escalation.

US officials were still working to conclusively identify the precise group responsible for the attack, but have assessed that one of several Iranian-backed groups are responsible.

President Joe Biden attributed the attack Sunday to “radical Iran-backed militia groups.”

US troops long have used Jordan as a basing point, and the attack took place in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border. US Central Command said 25 service members were injured in the attack in addition to the three killed.

At least 34 personnel were being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury, a US official told Reuters. Some 3,000 American troops typically are stationed in Jordan.

US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in more than 150 attacks since mid-October, according to the Pentagon, and Washington has carried out retaliatory strikes in both countries.

Israeli troops to ‘go into action’ soon at Lebanon border, says defense minister

Israeli troops will “very soon go into action” near the country’s northern border with Lebanon, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said tonight, as tensions surge amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Gallant told troops near the border with the Gaza Strip that others were being deployed to Israel’s north.

“They will very soon go into action… so the forces in the north are reinforced,” Gallant said.

“The forces close to you… are leaving the field and moving towards the north, and preparing for what comes next,” he said.

He added that reservists would be gradually released “to prepare and come ready” for future operations.

Pro-Palestinian students file complaint alleging Harvard failed to protect them

Over a dozen students are alleging that Harvard University failed to protect them from harassment and threats “based solely” on their pro-Palestinian identity, the group representing them said.

The Muslim Legal Fund of America says its legal division filed a civil rights complaint on Monday with the US Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of those students. The complaint urged a probe into Harvard.

Rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias and antisemitism in the US since the eruption of war in the Middle East.

Among anti-Palestinian incidents that raised alarm were a November shooting in Vermont of three students of Palestinian descent and the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian American child in Illinois in October.

The Harvard students alleged “harassment, intimidation, threats and more based solely on them being Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and supporters of Palestinian rights,” the group said. It added the students also underwent racist attacks, doxxing, stalking, and assault, including for wearing keffiyehs, or Palestinian scarves.

A Harvard spokesperson said the university had no comment on the complaint on Monday, but added that Harvard had resources in place to support students including a task force announced on Friday to combat Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Harvard and other US colleges have simmered with tension over responses to the October 7 shock Hamas attack on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza.

Earlier this month, Claudine Gay resigned as president of Harvard following backlash over her congressional testimony on antisemitism and allegations of plagiarism.

During a Congressional hearing, she and two other university presidents declined to give a definitive “yes” or “no” answer to a question on whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ codes of conduct regarding bullying and harassment, saying it would have to be balanced against free-speech protections.

Some students alleged that Harvard had threatened “to limit or retract the students’ future academic opportunities,” the Muslim Legal Fund of America said on Monday.

Erdan to head delegation of UN ambassadors on trip to Israel, meetings with freed hostages, families

Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, will be leading a delegation of ambassadors to the UN on a trip to Israel this week, Ynet reports.

The delegation of nine ambassadors to the UN are set to arrive on Tuesday for a tour, hosted by Erdan, of southern Israel, which was ravaged by the events of October 7, according to the report. The envoys will also meet with freed hostages, as well as with the families of those still held captive in Gaza, and survivors of the brutal, surprise killing spree of October 7 by thousands of Hamas-led terrorists.

During their trip, the ambassadors — including from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Liberia, Sierra Lione, Malta, and Slovenia — will also be briefed on the latest Israeli findings regarding allegations that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 massacre, some 10% have ties to terror, and that at least 190 UNRWA workers are themselves Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives.