By Dominic Giannini in Canberra

Further aid for Gaza has been announced by Australia after the foreign minister expressed horror at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the besieged strip.

Australia will also reinstate funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) after it was frozen following allegations by Israel that some of its staff were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack against it.

A C17 Globemaster plane will also deliver defence force parachutes to help bring aid to civilians in Gaza after the US began airdropping humanitarian supplies.

Australia will also provide an additional $4 million to UNICEF to provide urgent services.

The allegations against UNRWA warranted an immediate and appropriate response, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.

“The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organisation,” she told reporters in Adelaide on Friday as she announced the aid package.

The move follows partners like Canada, Sweden and the European Commission which reinstated funding.

Australia froze funding to UNRWA in January alongside international partners while the allegations were investigated.

A small number of the agency’s staff were fired following the accusations.

The US asked partner nations including Australia to help fund a new humanitarian port in Gaza so aid can flow by sea.

The secretary of state is also working to open more humanitarian aid corridors into Gaza with the besieged strip on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.

More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the local health ministry, since Israel retaliated against Hamas’ attack on October 7 that killed 1200 people and resulted in more than 200 taken hostage, according to Tel Aviv.