US cuts $200 mn in aid to Palestinians

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has announced it would not spend the more than $200 million set aside for Palestinian aid in the West Bank and Gaza, the latest in a series of measures that have infuriated the Palestinians.

The cancellation follows a similar decision last week against spending $230 mn reserved by Congress to help stabilise areas in Syria devastated by the country’s seven-year war. And it comes as the administration considers cancelling nearly $3 billion in foreign aid projects around the world.

As with the money for Syria, the administration intends to redirect the funds intended for Palestinians to higher-priority projects elsewhere, a senior state department official said. The administration has yet to identify what those projects are.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) executive committee, hit back, saying: “The US administration is demonstrating the use of cheap blackmail as a political tool.

“The Palestinian people and leadership will not be intimidated and will not succumb to coercion. The rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale,” Ashrawi countered.

In January, the US had made drastic cuts to its contribution to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA. Relations between the US administration and the Palestinian Authority took a nosedive after Trump last December decided to recognise the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.