{"id":58636,"date":"2018-01-15T17:05:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T15:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=58636"},"modified":"2018-01-10T15:53:47","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T13:53:47","slug":"10-00-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=58636","title":{"rendered":"US denies freezing millions in aid to Palestinian refugee agency"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>US denies freezing millions in aid to Palestinian refugee agency<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

ERIC CORTELLESSA
\n<\/strong>and TOI STAFF<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Decision on slashing funds to UNRWA ‘under review,’ says State Department official; White House rebuffs report of missed January 1 deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n

Palestinians receive their monthly food aid at a UN distribution center in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip in November 2012 (Abed Rahim Khatib\/Flash 90)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Senior US officials on Friday denied reports that $125 million in aid to the UN\u2019s Palestinian refugee agency had been frozen over Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas\u2019s refusal to enter US-led peace talks with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cContrary to reports that we have halted funding to UNRWA, the decision is under review,\u201d a State Department official told The Times of Israel. \u201cThere are still deliberations taking place, and we have missed no deadline.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, Channel 10 news reported that the $125 million in US funding should have been transferred to UNRWA by January 1, but was being held up because the White House is furious over the Palestinians\u2019 reaction to President Donald Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital last month.<\/span><\/p>\n

The TV report said that while the initial $125 million payment had been frozen, the administration was actually considering cutting altogether a total of some $180 million from its UNRWA payments \u2014 about half of the annual budget. It said a meeting on the issue took place at the White House on Friday, and that no final decision had been taken.<\/span><\/p>\n

A White House official also responded to the TV report on Friday, confirming to The Times of Israel that no decision had been taken on the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no existing schedule that obligates the United States to provide specific amounts of aid to UNWRA on specific dates,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe decisions of when to provide aid in the fiscal year, and in what allocations, lie with the Secretary of State.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt this time, no such decisions have been made,\u201d the official said.<\/span><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump speaking about his administration\u2019s National Security Strategy at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC, December 18, 2017. (SAUL LOEB\/AFP)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Relations between Trump\u2019s White House and the Palestinians have been tense since Trump\u2019s December 6 announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.<\/span><\/p>\n

The declaration led Abbas to break off all contact with the Trump administration, and he has refused to meet with US officials regarding the peace process, including envoy Jason Greenblatt and Vice President Mike Pence.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Trump threatened to cut off aid to the PA, asking why Washington should make \u201cany of these massive future payments\u201d when the Palestinians were \u201cno longer willing to talk peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Palestinians rely heavily on international aid, with many analysts, including Israelis, saying such assistance helps maintain stability in a volatile region.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect,\u201d Trump tweeted. \u201cThey don\u2019t even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening all of the budget, worth $319 million in 2016, according to US government figures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Illustrative: Palestinian girls at a UNRWA school in Gaza. (Abed Rahim Khatib\/Flash90)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly address the reports about possible slashed American funding to UNRWA, Channel 10 reported Thursday that he is privately urging the US not to go through with the cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report said Netanyahu would publicly back the move, amid pressure from right-wing lawmakers such as Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, and in order not to undermine Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Axios news site reported that Netanyahu has been in contact with the White House regarding UNRWA funding and that Israel prefers a \u201cgradual disengagement\u201d from the refugee agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to the report, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said: \u201cNetanyahu supports President Trump\u2019s critical attitude towards UNRWA and believes practical steps need to be taken in order to change the fact that UNRWA is being used to entrench the Palestinian refugee problem instead of solving it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An Israeli security source also told Channel 10 the funding cuts to UNRWA would make an already tense situation in Gaza \u201cmuch worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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US denies freezing millions in aid to Palestinian refugee agency ERIC CORTELLESSA and TOI STAFF Decision on slashing funds to UNRWA ‘under review,’ says State Department official; White House rebuffs report of missed January 1 deadline Palestinians receive their monthly food aid at a UN distribution center in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58636"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58649,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58636\/revisions\/58649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}