Over the weekend, the government suspended funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) after “several” staff members were terminated for alleged involved in the 7 October attack on Israel.

The agency provides many essential services in Gaza, and has been one of the key distributors of aid since the Israel-Hamas war broke out.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson has now clarified that funding pledged to the agency when the war began has already been dispersed, and future funding has been paused.

The spokesperson said: “My understanding is that we have committed £60m to UNRWA following the Hamas terror attacks, but this was dispersed before the allegations came to light.

“I’m not aware of any remaining UNRWA funding that hasn’t been used. In the meantime, we’re working with a number of other partner organisations, so Unicef, the Red Cross, and others, to deliver our uplift of aid into Gaza.”

He added an investigation into the allegations is under way.

The pause is not impacting any funding due to be released, he added, but the government “wouldn’t be providing any additional funding while this work continues”.