Days after the Netherlands suspended funding for the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, Dutch government officials expressed concern that a prolonged hiatus in support could cause “great human suffering” and destabilize the region, according to newly released documents.

After the Netherlands joined more than a dozen countries in halting its funding to UNRWA over Israeli allegations of links to Hamas, Foreign Ministry officials stressed in a memo that the UN agency must continue its work.

“Humanitarian assistance and basic supplies to Gaza and the wider region through UNRWA must be maintained during this phase of the conflict. Other organizations are not adequately equipped for this purpose, including logistically. Further destabilization of the region through the loss of UNRWA capacity must be prevented,” officials from the ministry’s human rights department wrote in a memo to Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot on February 2.

Bruins Slot, a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Appeal party, expressed her agreement with her colleagues in a handwritten note.

“Agreed! Affects the entire region, which is already unstable,” she wrote in the memo.

Officials described myriad competing priorities and warned that Amsterdam faces a “precarious” balance in deciding whether to support UNRWA financially.

“The balance between the desired political signal, the speed of the UN investigations, the humanitarian needs, the avoidance of further destabilization of the region, the continuation of balanced contacts with both Israel and the Palestinians, and the redistribution of funds is very precarious,” the memo said.

“An excessive delay or suspension of already pledged assistance could lead to serious disruptions to UNWRA’s operational capacity and cause great human suffering,” the memo continued, to which Bruins Slot added a handwritten note expressing her agreement.

“In addition, high humanitarian needs could lead to social unrest and regional escalation, which also poses a risk to Israel’s security. It is also politically relevant to take into account the International Court of Justice’s ruling on adequate humanitarian assistance.”

Al Jazeera obtained the previously unpublished memo through a freedom of information request to the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

Despite concerns expressed at the highest levels of the Dutch government, the Netherlands has still not resumed its funding to UNRWA, five months after announcing a suspension of its funding in response to Israeli allegations that some of the agency’s staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel.

An investigation led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna concluded last month that Israel had provided no evidence to support its allegations that UNRWA was involved in the attack.

At least half of the 16 countries that suspended funding in response to Israel’s claims – including Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden – have now resumed their support.

When asked for comment, the Dutch Foreign Ministry referred Al Jazeera to a letter it sent to parliament last month outlining its position on UNRWA funding.

In the letter, the ministry said it had already provided UNRWA with its annual funding in January, but future requests would be reviewed based on the agency’s implementation of Colonna’s recommendations to strengthen its neutrality, as well as the outcome of an upcoming report by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

OIOS said in an update on its investigation last month that it was investigating 14 UNRWA staff for their alleged links to the October 7 attacks, while it had closed investigations into five others due to a lack of evidence.

In the February memo, officials recommended that funding be “reconsidered in due course” taking into account the findings of the OIOS report, and that a scope of work be established to examine risk management at UNRWA and an “action plan, including UNRWA’s commitment to (re-)examine staff.”

Founded in 1949, UNRWA employs around 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria to provide essential services such as food, education and health care.

The UN agency announced last week that it had to suspend food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where the Israeli military is conducting a ground offensive and air strikes, due to supply shortages and security risks.