Ottawa /PNN / 
Canada will resume funding to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, International Aid Minister Ahmed Hussen said on Friday, becoming one of the first international donors to announce such a move.

Ottawa paused funding on Jan. 26 after Israel alleged some of the staff at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) agency had been involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

Canada will be lifting its temporary pause on funding to (UNRWA)," Hussen said in a statement, but did not say exactly when this would happen. “UNRWA plays a vital role in Gaza.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Ottawa was waiting for the results of an internal United Nations probe into the Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA staff had been involved in Hamas' October 7 attacks.

A total of 16 donors, including the United States and Britain, paused their funding to UNRWA.

On Thursday, Spain announced it will give UNRWA an additional 20 million euros ($21.88 million) in aid, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday.

This will be on top of the 3.5 million euros the country has already pledged in February.

UNRWA immediately fired the employees in question, with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini explaining that"to protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance in Gaza, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth."

To Palestinians, UNRWA is an essential source of assistance operating inside the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East. It provides education, health and social services, and, in times of war, life-saving aid and shelter. It is also one of Gaza's largest employers, with 13,000 people, mostly Palestinians, on staff.