Italy suspends financing for UNRWA: Foreign Minister Tajani

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani meets with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati (unseen) in Beirut

ROME (Reuters) - Italy has decided to suspend financing of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday.

The decision follows allegations that some UNRWA workers were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel carried out by Palestinian militant group Hamas, though Tajani made no direct reference to those suspicions.

"The Italian government has suspended financing of the UNRWA after the atrocious attack on Israel on October 7," Tajani posted on social media platform X, adding that some of Italy's allies had already taken the same decision.

(Reporting By Gavin Jones, editing by William Maclean)