US to Restore over $200 Million in Aid to Palestinians
The Biden administration plans to provide at least $235 million in US aid to the Palestinians, restarting funding for the United Nations agency supporting refugees and restoring other assistance cut off by then-President Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said, Reuters reports.
The package, including humanitarian, economic and security aid, is expected to be announced by the State Department later on Wednesday as part of an effort to repair US ties with the Palestinians that all but collapsed during Trump’s tenure.
Statement by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the U.N. @giladerdan1 in response to the U.S. decision to renew funding for @UNRWA pic.twitter.com/xrlONAIx4i
— Elad Strohmayer (@EladStr) April 7, 2021
It will mark Democratic President Joe Biden’s most significant move since taking office on January 20 to make good on his promise to roll back some components of his Republican predecessor’s approach that Palestinians denounced as heavily biased in favor of Israel.
The plan calls for $150 million through the United Nations relief agency UNRWA, $75 million in US economic support and $10 million in development funding, according to a notice emailed by the administration to congressional offices.
HISTORIC: The United States @StateDept just announced that it will resume assistance to UNRWA, in support of millions of Palestine refugees across the Middle East.https://t.co/vWjMJOp3QG
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 7, 2021
The new administration has previously pledged to resume hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance and work toward reopening the Palestinians’ diplomatic mission in Washington.
Biden’s aides have also signaled that they want to re-establish the goal of a negotiated two-state solution as a priority in US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)