TEL AVIV, Israel - An Israeli document obtained Monday spelled out allegations against a dozen U.N. employees the country says participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault - claiming seven stormed into Israeli territory, including two who participated in kidnappings.

The allegations against staffers with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees prompted Western countries to freeze funds vital for the body, which is a lifeline for desperate Palestinians in Gaza. The U.N. fired nine of the 12 accused workers and condemned “the abhorrent alleged acts” of staff members.

The accusations come after years of tensions between Israel and the agency known as UNRWA over its work in Gaza, where it employs roughly 13,000 people.

Despite the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the besieged territory - where Israel’s war against Hamas has displaced the vast majority of the population and officials say a quarter of Palestinians are starving - major donors, including the U.S. and Britain, have cut funding. On Monday, Japan and Austria joined them in pausing assistance.

With the majority of its budget in doubt, UNRWA says it will be forced to halt operations within weeks if funding isn’t restored.

The threat to the U.N. agency came as Israel said cease-fire talks held Sunday were constructive but that “significant gaps” remained in any potential agreement. The talks are meant to bring about some respite to war-torn Gaza and secure the release of more than 100 hostages still held in the territory.

Fighting continued, further complicating assistance to war-weary people in Gaza. Israel issued an evacuation order to residents in the western part of Gaza City, urging them to head south. The order indicated that battles are still being waged in northern Gaza, an area Israel pummeled in the first weeks of the war and where it had previously said it held military control.

The war was sparked with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw some 250 people taken captive, according to Israeli authorities.

The attack set off an intense air, sea and ground offensive that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

The war has also threatened to set off a wider regional conflict, with the U.S. announcing three of its troops killed in a strike blamed on Iran-backed militias in Jordan.