Riyad al-Maliki
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Tuesday the United States was "attacking international law" after President Donald Trump's decision to halt all funding to U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
"The U.S. administration has begun to attack the Palestinian people and international law," Malki said at a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo convened to discuss the issue.
Dozens of Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday staged a protest against a recent U.S. decision to cut all funding for UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.Organized by a popular committee affiliated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the protest was held outside the UNRWA’s Gaza City office where protesters waved banners calling on the UN to support the cash-strapped refugee agency.“We affirm our categorical rejection of the so-called ‘deal of the century’, which [U.S. President Donald] Trump sanctified with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” popular committee spokesman Zeyad al-Sarfandi said at Monday’s protest.“We also call on the international community to redouble its efforts to help UNRWA by providing it with a fixed budget so it can continue providing Palestinian refugees with vital services,” al-Sarfandi said.On August 31, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would “no longer commit funding” to the UNRWA.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly a quarter of the agency's overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.US aid cut to East Jerusalem hospitals ‘catastrophic'Palestinians say undeterred by US move to 'protect Israeli crimes'Israeli armed forces kill Palestinian in Gaza
Gaza refugees protest Washington’s UNRWA funding cuts
Palestinian hospital officials on Monday decried a U.S. decision to cut funding for hospitals in the occupied East Jerusalem, warning the move will have “catastrophic” consequences on the health sector.The decision will have “a major negative impact on the clash flows to these hospitals and will lead to delays in the provision of vital medical services,” Basem Abu-Lebda, head of Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, told a press conference held at Augusta Victoria hospital in the city.“In a nutshell, this decision will negatively impact the lives of five million Palestinians,” he said.The U.S. administration has decided to cut nearly $25 million in aid to hospitals in Israel-occupied city that mainly serve Palestinian patients.US to close PLO’s Washington office: Saeb ErekatThe cut could cause harm to at least five hospitals in East Jerusalem, including Augusta Victoria hospital and the St. John Eye Hospital, which is the main provider of eye treatments for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.Abu-Lebda appealed to the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. Congress and the international community to take responsibility and spare no efforts to deal with the consequences caused by the U.S. aid cut.Notably East Jerusalem hospitals provide medical services to Palestinians not only in East Jerusalem but also those in the West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.Last week, Washington ended all of its funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.Palestinians say undeterred by US move to 'protect Israeli crimes'The U.S. was -- by far -- UNRWA's largest contributor, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly one quarter of the agency's overall budget. Palestinians have rejected any U.S. mediation since U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.
US aid cut to East Jerusalem hospitals ‘catastrophic'
Israeli defense officials have suggested establishing an alternative for UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, to head off a humanitarian crisis in the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to Israeli Haaretz newspaper on Sunday.On August 31, Washington ended all of its funding for UNRWA as part of a broader policy by the U.S. administration to cut aid to the Palestinians.The U.S. was -- by far -- UNRWA's largest contributor, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly one quarter of the agency's overall budget.By the end of September, donor countries for Gaza will hold a meeting in New York.According to Haaretz, an Israeli delegation to the meeting will ask donors to guarantee the continued delivery of food, operation of UNRWA’s schools and paying their salaries.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Israel seeks alternative to UNRWA in Gaza
Millions of Palestinian refugees "cannot simply be wished away", the head of a U.N. support agency said on Monday, hitting back at a U.S. aid cutoff and allegations its work only perpetuates their plight.The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) provides services to about 5 million Palestinian refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza. Most are descendants of some 700,000 Palestinians who were driven out of their homes or fled fighting in the 1948 war that led to Israel's creation.The growing refugee count was cited by Washington, UNRWA's biggest donor, in its decision last week to withhold funding, and has potential ramifications for the Palestinians' pursuit of a right of return to land now in Israel.Successive Israeli governments have ruled out such an influx, fearing the country would lose its Jewish majority.Confederation to ‘liquidate’ Palestinian cause: Hamas"I express deep regret and disappointment at the nature of the U.S. decision," UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl said in an open letter to Palestinian refugees and the agency's staff in which he pledged its operations would continue.Appearing to echo Israel's view that descendants of the 1948 refugees should not share that status, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert criticised UNRWA on Friday over its "endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries".Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described UNRWA on Sunday as "the refugee perpetuation agency" whose money "should be taken and be used to really help rehabilitate the refugees, whose real number is a sliver of that reported by UNRWA".But Krahenbuhl said "the protracted nature of the Palestine refugee crisis" was not unique. He said the children and grandchildren of long-displaced refugees in Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Congo and elsewhere are also recognised as refugees and assisted by the United Nations.Palestine still believes in 2-state solution: AbbasSCHOOLS OPEN"No matter how often attempts are made to minimise or delegitimise the individual and collective experiences of Palestine refugees, the undeniable fact remains that they have rights under international law and represent a community of 5.4 million men, women and children who cannot simply be wished away," he said.The United States paid out $60 million to UNRWA in January, withholding another $65 million, from a promised $365 million for the year. Krahenbuhl said Gulf states had injected funds but UNRWA still needed more than $200 million.In Lebanon on Monday, UNRWA opened its school year as scheduled. Studies in UNRWA-run schools in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip got under way on Wednesday.Arab League slams US aid cut to UN Palestine agencyClaudio Cordone, director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, told Reuters that funds would last only until the end of the month but the agency would continue to raise money to ensure the schools remain open.Washington's move against UNRWA was the latest in a series of U.S. and Israeli policy decisions that have angered Palestinians and raised international concern.They include Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December, the moving of the U.S. Embassy to the contested city in May and Israel's adoption of a "nation-state" law in July that says only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country. Turkey slams US decision to cut UNRWA funding
UNRWA chief defends refugee criteria for millions of Palestinians