The Joe Biden administration will provide $150 million to support the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency, a partial restoration of the funding slashed by President Donald Trump more than two years ago.
“The United States is pleased to announce that, working with Congress, we plan to restart U.S. economic, development, and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday.
The fresh funding includes $75 million in economic and development assistance for the impoverished West Bank and Gaza Strip, $10 million for peace-building programs through the US Agency for International Development and $150 million in humanitarian assistance for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
UNRWA provides food assistance and essential services to an estimated 5.7 million registered Palestinian refugees and their descendants in the Palestinian territories as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Describing UNRWA as "an irredeemably flawed operation,” Trump announced in 2018 that the United States would cut off funding to the refugee agency.
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