Washington to Send $99 Million to UNRWA

Arab World

January 5th, 7:02am

Washington - Ali Barada

A Palestinian rides on a pickup carrying sacks of food aid provided by UNRWA in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on June 25, 2019. (AFP)

The United States announced it will send $99 million in funding to the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), the world body’s agency that handles Palestinian refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Gaza Strip. "The funds will provide education, health care, and emergency relief to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children and families during a time of need," said the US State Department’s Population, Refugees, and Migrations Bureau. The statement added that the "US remains focused on the agency's accountability, transparency, neutrality, and stability." Washington’s announcement is part of the Biden administration’s pledges to restore funding to the UN agency that was established more than 70 years ago and whose funding were largely suspended under the Trump administration in 2018. UNRWA already suffers from a significant budget shortfall. Last April, US President Joe Biden's administration said it would begin to restore funding to Palestinians via the UNRWA. No immediate Israeli comment was made on the decision. The US announcement came two weeks after US and Palestinian officials met virtually for the re-launching of the "US-Palestinian Economic Dialogue," after a five-year hiatus. The meeting saw participants pledge to "expand and deepen [US-Palestinian] cooperation and coordination across a range of sectors," the State Department said. Israel has long pushed for UNRWA’s closure, saying that it helps perpetuate the conflict with the Palestinians since it confers refugee status upon descendants of those originally displaced around the time of Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. Israelis also criticized UNRWA for its textbooks, which they say promote incitement. In an open letter last week, UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said perennial budget shortfalls had forced the agency to introduce austerity measures, stretching the level of aid it could offer Palestinians to the limit.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3396506/washington-send-99-million-unrwa