Intel: US announces $15 million in aid to West Bank, Gaza
The United States will provide $15 million in humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the West Bank, in what is part of a larger Biden administration effort to mend frayed relations with the Palestinians.
The funds provided by the US Agency for International Development will help support Catholic Relief Services’ COVID-19 response, as well as emergency food assistance in the impoverished Palestinian territories.
“This small step in advancing the well-being of the Palestinian people is fully in keeping with American values,” the State Department said in its announcement Thursday.
Why it matters: Washington’s relationship with Ramallah is badly strained after four years of almost no contact between the two governments and a slew of Trump administration policies seen as favoring Israel in its decadeslong conflict with the Palestinians. President Donald Trump slashed more than $200 million in aid to the Palestinians in 2018, including $25 million earmarked for East Jerusalem hospitals.
