THE Australian government pledged today to restore funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians.

The previous day, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for fresh elections in Israel in the hope of ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Australian decision to restore funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) follows the suspension of international support for the body after Israel made unsubstantiated allegations that some of its Gaza-based staff had taken part in the October 7 cross-border attack that left 1,200 people dead in Israel and 250 taken hostage.

A small number of the 13,000 UNRWA staff in Gaza were sacked before a probe had even begun.

The Australian government also promised today to increase aid for the besieged Palestinian enclave, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressing horror at the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Australia follows Sweden, the European Commission and Canada in reinstating funding for UNRWA, whose its international funding was frozen while the allegations were investigated.

“The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organisation,” Ms Wong said in Adelaide today while announcing the aid package.

On Thursday, cracks were deepening in the relationship between the US administration and Mr Netanyahu’s far-right government.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Mr Schumer called for Israel to hold elections to replace Mr Netanyahu.

Mr Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US government, charged that the Israeli prime minister had lost his way and warned that the level of casualties in Gaza risked turning Israel into a “pariah” state.

The Senate leader, a long-standing supporter of Israel, accused the Mr Netanyahu of allowing “his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”

He added that the country must make “course corrections” and improve protection of civilians in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party hit back, insisting that Israel was not a “banana republic” and that Mr Schumer should “respect Israel’s elected government and not undermine it.”

On Thursday night, the US circulated the final draft of a UN security council resolution calling for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire” in Gaza as part of a deal to release hostages.

No date has yet been set for a vote.

At least 31,774 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.