The United States is ending its decades of funding for the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees, a week after slashing bilateral US aid for projects in the West Bank and Gaza. The US supplies nearly 30 per cent of the total budget of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and had been demanding reforms in the way it is run. The US State Department said in a written statement the United States “will no longer commit further funding to this irredeemably flawed operation”. The decision cuts nearly $300m (£231m) of planned support. It comes as Donald Trump and his Middle East advisers, Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, prepare for the rollout of a much-vaunted plan for Israel and the Palestinians, and it could intensify Palestinian suspicions that Washington is using the humanitarian funding as leverage. The Palestinian leadership has been openly hostile to any proposal from the administration, citing what it says is a pro-Israel bias, notably after the US president recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December and moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv in May. The Palestinian Authority broke off contact with the US after the Jerusalem announcement. ✕ Nikki Haley says U.S. will withhold funding for Palestinian refugees In 2016, the US donated $355m to the UNRWA, which provides health care, education and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and it was set to make a similar contribution this year. In January, the Trump administration released $60m in funds but withheld a further $65m it had been due to provide. The remaining amount – around $290m – had yet to be allocated. “When we made a US contribution of $60m in January, we made it clear that the United States was no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden of UNRWA’s costs that we had assumed for many years,” the statement said. “Several countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Sweden, Qatar, and the UAE [United Arab Emirates] have shown leadership in addressing this problem, but the overall international response has not been sufficient.” Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a racket to return a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator shouts Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Tear gas canisters are fired by Israeli forces at Palestinian demonstrators Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A wounded Palestinian is evacuated Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a sling to hurl stones at Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A female demonstrator uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator with a slingshot looks on Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Female Palestinian demonstrators react to tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Israeli forces fire teargas canisters toward Palestinian demonstrators AFP Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Female demonstrators run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded protester AP Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator moves a burning tire Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures A demonstrator uses a racket to return a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops Reuters Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops: in pictures Palestinian demonstrators during clashes with Israeli forces AFP/Getty The statement criticised the “fundamental business model and fiscal practices” of UNRWA, and what the department characterised as the “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries”. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the war that led to Israel’s establishment in 1948. Today, there are an estimated five million refugees and their descendants, mostly scattered across the region – a figure that has become a point of contention. Palestinian leaders assert the right of those refugees to return to land now under Israeli control. Associated Press<doc-sep>It has also said it is unhappy that Unrwa has kept expanding the number of people eligible for assistance, and says its business model is "simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years".<doc-sep>
Mr. Kushner has been working on a peace proposal in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is pushing Palestinian leaders to drop demands for the right of most of the five million refugees to return to Israeli-controlled land. The vast majority of the five million refugees are descendants of Palestinians displaced in the mid-20th century. The United Nations aid agency officially considers all of them refugees, consistent with international law and United Nations refugee protocols, said Peter Mulrean, director of the Unrwa office at the United Nations. Mr. Kushner and other American officials are seeking to change the United Nations designation in hopes the agency will alter the debate over which Palestinians have the right of return. Mr. Harden said those American officials also believe that defunding the aid agency will give them leverage to force Palestinian and other Arab leaders to drop — or at least lessen — the demand for right of return, which is one of the greatest points of contention between Israeli and Palestinian officials. By attempting to redefine the Palestinian refugee problem, Ms. Ashrawi said, Washington was once again coming down squarely on Israel’s side. And that, she said, could only weaken moderates and reignite conflict. “We are back to all or nothing, to confrontations,” Ms. Ashrawi said. “We have done so much to show good will, and now we are being told, no, Israel has to have it all.” The Trump administration announced last week that it was diverting $200 million set aside for Palestinian aid in the West Bank and Gaza. That money had been appropriated by Congress in the 2017 budget to the Agency for International Development, and is part of a package of assistance given annually to help the Palestinians that is separate from the United Nations allocation.