WASHINGTON — In a departure from past US administrations, the Donald Trump administration, in a series of recent steps, increasingly appears to be aligning the United States with Israeli positions and against Palestinian positions in key issues in the conflict, from the status of Jerusalem to the question of the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Past American administrations had said those issues were to be resolved by the two parties in the course of negotiations for a two-state solution.

Three months after moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, the Trump administration announced last week that it is cutting $200 million in US assistance for humanitarian and development programs in the West Bank and Gaza. It has also reportedly decided that it is cutting further US contributions this year to the UN agency charged with providing humanitarian aid, schools and social services to some 5 million Palestinian refugees, after earlier cutting the agency's budget.

"Leadership is about making hard choices," Jason Greenblatt, Trump's special representative for international negotiations, said in a written statement to journalists today. "The people of Gaza, and Israelis in the area around Gaza, have suffered for far too long. It is time for the Palestinian Authority to lead the Palestinian people — all Palestinians — to a better future." 

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suggested Tuesday that Palestinian ingratitude and criticism of the United States were among the factors in the decision to cut US contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).