The US State Department on Thursday announced that Washington will not provide $45 million in food aid which it pledged last month for Palestinian refugees.
This came days after the US froze humanitarian aid to the UNRWA worth $65 million.
Spokeswoman for the US State Department Heather Nauert said in statements “At this time we will not be providing that but this does not mean that it will not be provided in the future.”
Nauert claimed that the withholding of the funds was not intended to punish Palestinians who strongly criticized the US president Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month.
“Other countries are required to do more” she said adding that the US does not have to be the chief donor to every organization around the world.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl on 15th December 2017 received a letter from the State Department Comptroller Eric Hembree in which he pledged $45 million for the West Bank and Gaza in response to an emergency appeal by the UNRWA.
In early January 2018 the US president threatened to halt his country’s annual aid to the Palestinian Authority which is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars until it returns to the negotiating table.
The US provides assistance to the Palestinians through different programs including UNRWA the US Agency for International Development (USAID) the Middle East Partnership Initiative and the US security assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
