US officials are preparing for a pause on funding the main UN agency for Palestinians to become permanent due to opposition in Congress, even as the Biden administration insists the aid group’s humanitarian work is indispensable, Reuters reports.

Bipartisan opposition in Congress to funding UNRWA makes it unlikely the United States will resume regular donations anytime soon, even as countries such as Sweden and Canada have said they will restart their contributions.

A supplemental funding bill in the US Congress that includes military aid to Israel and Ukraine and is supported by the Biden administration, contains a provision that would block UNRWA from receiving funds if it becomes law.

US officials say they recognize “the critical role” UNRWA plays in distributing aid inside the densely-populated enclave that has been brought close to famine by Israel’s assault over the past five months.

“We have to plan for the fact that Congress may make that pause permanent,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

Washington has been looking at working with humanitarian partners on the ground, such as UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP), to continue giving aid.

But officials are aware that UNRWA is hard to replace.

“There are other organizations that are now providing some distribution of aid inside Gaza, but that is primarily the role that UNRWA is equipped to play that no one else is due to their long standing work and their networks of distribution and their history inside Gaza,” Miller said.