Unrwa 'backbone' of aid work in Gaza, UN says after Rubio comments

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) is the "backbone" of aid work in Gaza and has no link to Hamas, a deputy spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday.

The comment came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was willing to work with the UN on aid in Gaza, but not Unrwa.

“Unrwa is not linked to Hamas. Unrwa is the backbone of our humanitarian operations in Gaza,” Farhan Haq, a UN spokesperson, said. 

“There were a small number of staff members of Unrwa who were credibly linked to Hamas, and we have handled that situation and fired those personnel. Others were not found to have any links, or there was no evidence provided to back up any allegations,” he added.