Washington: The United States will give a U.N. agency $60 million in aid for Palestinians but withhold a further $65 million for now, a U.S. official said on Tuesday as the Trump administration appeared to carry out a threat it made two weeks ago to cut funding.
While saying the decision would sustain schools and health services, the U.S. official echoed U.S. President Donald Trump in calling on other nations to provide more funds because he believes the United States pays more than its share.
The decision to keep back some money is likely to compound the difficulty of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and to further undermine Arabs' faith that the United States can act as an impartial arbitrator, particularly following Trump's Dec. 6 announcement reversing decades of U.S. policy and recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) that will receive the money needed to be fundamentally reevaluated "in the way it operates and the way it is funded."
In a Twitter post on Jan. 2, Trump said that Washington gives the Palestinians "HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect."
While the U.S. official did not link the U.S. decision to Trump's tweet, he made a point often advanced by the president by saying the United States had been UNRWA's single largest donor for decades and demanded other nations do more.
Trump's aides initially debated whether to cut off all UNRWA aid after the tweet, a second U.S. official said. But those opposed to the idea argued that it could further destabilise the region, the official said.
"First was declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and today the refugee issue," he said.
At the United Nations, Guterres told reporters that the services provided by UNRWA were "of extreme importance, not only for the wellbeing of these populations ... but also in my opinion and an opinion that is shared by most international observers, including some Israeli ones, it is an important factor of stability."
"So if UNRWA will not be in a position to provide the vital services and the emergency forms of support that UNRWA has been providing this will create a very, very serious problem and we will do everything we can to avoid this situation," he said.
(Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Grant McCool)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
While saying the decision would sustain schools and health services, the U.S. official echoed U.S. President Donald Trump in calling on other nations to provide more funds because he believes the United States pays more than its share.
The decision to keep back some money is likely to compound the difficulty of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and to further undermine Arabs' faith that the United States can act as an impartial arbitrator, particularly following Trump's Dec. 6 announcement reversing decades of U.S. policy and recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) that will receive the money needed to be fundamentally reevaluated "in the way it operates and the way it is funded."
Advertisement
In a Twitter post on Jan. 2, Trump said that Washington gives the Palestinians "HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect."
Advertisement
While the U.S. official did not link the U.S. decision to Trump's tweet, he made a point often advanced by the president by saying the United States had been UNRWA's single largest donor for decades and demanded other nations do more.
Advertisement
Trump's aides initially debated whether to cut off all UNRWA aid after the tweet, a second U.S. official said. But those opposed to the idea argued that it could further destabilise the region, the official said.
Advertisement
"First was declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and today the refugee issue," he said.
Advertisement
At the United Nations, Guterres told reporters that the services provided by UNRWA were "of extreme importance, not only for the wellbeing of these populations ... but also in my opinion and an opinion that is shared by most international observers, including some Israeli ones, it is an important factor of stability."
"So if UNRWA will not be in a position to provide the vital services and the emergency forms of support that UNRWA has been providing this will create a very, very serious problem and we will do everything we can to avoid this situation," he said.
(Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Grant McCool)
© Thomson Reuters 2018
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
COMMENTS
Advertisement
One In Five Children Gets Exposed To Extreme Heat Globally, Says UN US Names Bald Eagle As National Bird, 200 Years After It Became Country's Symbol International Friendship Day 2024: Date, History and Significance Who Is Jasveen Sangha, "Ketamine Queen" Charged With Matthew Perry's Death "Don't Expect Anything From Me": Kolkata Hospital's New Principal Loses Cool Nurse Raped, Killed On Way Home, Body Found 9 Days Later In UP President, PM Pay Tributes To Atal Bihari Vajpayee On Death Anniversary Chinese Woman's Refusal To Stow Louis Vuitton Bag Causes Major Flight Delay 2,000 Meth Pills, "Ketamine Lollipops": Inside Jasveen Sangha's "Drug Emporium" Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.