US seeking to withhold $200m in Palestine aid

The United States is seeking to withhold $200 million (Dh734 million) in direct aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, after it slashed American contribution to UN agency that support the Palestinian refugees, a Foreign Policy report said on Friday. Quoting unnamed diplomatic sources, the online news portal said that the decision on the cuts was taken in a high-level meeting earlier this week, attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top Middle East adviser. Suspension of direct US aid is a vital humanitarian lifeline for refugees and comes amid rising political and security tension in the region. The US has already slashed its aid to the United Nations Relief and Works agency for the Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA for its annual $360 million contribution by more than 80 per cent to $60 million.

The decision to withhold $200 million in direct aid coincides with the wave of pay cuts and layoffs for hundreds of UN and other international agencies which are working in the West Bank and Gaza. Last month, Palestinian employees took control of the UNRWA in the Near East’s headquarters in Gaza, after it announced the layoffs. According to the Foreign Policy report, Congress has already approved $230 million private aid to Palestinian refugees, but the White House has decided it would ask the lawmakers to suspend most of that approved aid.