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Intel: Trump administration claims Palestinian aid not reaching people who need it

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, explaining the Donald Trump administration’s decision to provide $5 million in COVID-19 assistance to the Palestinians in place of $75 million appropriated overall, said US economic and humanitarian aid for the West Bank and Gaza is being cut in general because it was not reaching the people.
A Palestinian carries food supplies at an aid distribution center run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RC16E05A7E10

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a new argument today to justify the Donald Trump administration’s elimination of nearly all economic and humanitarian aid for the West Bank and Gaza.

The Trump administration first eliminated $215 million in Palestinian aid in 2018 pending a review that the State Department has never released. Last week, the State Department announced that it would provide $5 million in coronavirus aid for the West Bank and Gaza — a mere 7% of the $75 million in Palestinian economic and humanitarian aid that Congress appropriated for this fiscal year.

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