Listen to this articleThe United States has now decided to end its long-time funding for the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees. The decision came after a week of slashing bilateral U.S aid for projects in the West Bank and Gaza. The U.S supplies nearly 30% of the total budget of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and had been demanding reforms in the way it is operating. The U.S State Department said in a written statement that the United States will no longer commit further funding to this incurably flawed operation. The decision cuts more than 300 million U.S dollars (£231million) of its planned support. It comes as Donald Trump and his Middle East advisers, Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, prepare for the rollout of a much-vaunted plan for Israel and the Palestinians. It would intensify Palestinian suspicions that Washington is using the humanitarian funding as leverage.
The leadership of Palestine has been openly hostile to any proposal from the U.S administration. They said that it is a pro-Israel bias. Point to be noted that the U.S president Trump had recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in the month of December. The United States also moved its embassy there from Tel Aviv in the month of May. So, the Palestinian Authority broke off contact with the U.S after the Jerusalem announcement. The U.S donated 355 million U.S dollars to the UNRWA in 2016. This aid was provided for health care, education and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. The Trump administration released 60 million U.S dollars in January in funds but withheld a further 65 million U.S dollars it had been due to be provided. The remaining amount around 290 million U.S dollars had yet to be allocated.
Recent Comments