US to restore aid to UN Palestinian refugee agency cut by Trump

The Biden administration will restart more than $200m in aid to the Palestinians, including restoring funding to UNRWA.

8 Apr 2021

The Biden administration has announced plans to resume funding for the United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees, which has faced a dire financial situation since former US President Donald Trump cut US assistance in 2018.

In a statement on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would provide $150m in humanitarian assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

UNRWA provides aid and other services, including health care and education, to about 5.7 million Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Jordan – and the agency welcomed the US announcement.

“UNRWA could not be more pleased that once again we will partner with the United States to provide critical assistance to some of the most vulnerable refugees across the Middle East and fulfill our mandate to educate and provide primary health care to millions of refugees every day,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.