UN threatens to stop operations in Gaza over protests

Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, dismissed on Thursday the UNRWA's threats   A UN agency which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees has threatened to suspend its activities in the Gaza Strip if protesters did not stop interfering with its work, local media reported .
Dozens of local residents in Gaza have been blocking the entrance to the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in protest against the agency's decision to cut some of its relief programs.
"If they continue blocking the gates [at the headquarters], we will start thinking about stopping our activities in a week," spokesman for the UNRWA, Chris Gunness, told local reporters late on Thursday.
Gunness called the protests irresponsible and irrational as the agency continued to offer Palestinian refugees some basic relief services, such as health care and education, despite a $35-mln budget deficit.
UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.
Radical Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, dismissed on Thursday the UNRWA's threats to stop the operations and called on the Palestinians to continue their sit-in protests at the UNRWA headquarters.