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September 8 (UPI) – More than $ 20 million of foreign aid to East Jerusalem hospitals has been drawn from a previously approved US budget, a decision announced Friday by the Trump administration.
A State Department official said $ 25 million was earmarked for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, a group of hospitals primarily providing care to Palestinians. of the Islamic State.
Funds will also be redirected to counter threats from Syria, Iran and North Korea and help Columbia and other countries manage migrants from Venezuela.
The cut is part of President Donald Trump's plan to pressure the Palestinians to enter into a peace deal with Israel.
Adnan Husseini, Palestinian Authority Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, said the initiative was not surprising.
"Let America know that all these acts will not change our stance towards our cause, on the contrary, it consolidates our positions on everything, including Jerusalem," Husseini said.
Dave Harden, a former US official who oversees aid to the Palestinians under the Obama administration, said the decision was "particularly vindictive" and could cause the collapse of hospitals including the Augusta Victoria Hospital, run by the Lutheran World Federation and the St. John Eye Hospital.
Hanan Ashrawia, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the act was a "political blackmail" that goes against the standards of decency and morality human.
Ashrawia said reducing essential funds for East Jerusalem hospitals could cause serious instability and damage to thousands of Palestinian patients and their families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and hurt the livelihoods of thousands of workers.
The Trump administration cut more than $ 200 million to help Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The aid that was part of the State Department's Support and Economic Development Fund, allocations planned for the West Bank and Gaza programs, rising to about $ 230 million.
Since January, the money had been frozen because Trump had ordered a review to make sure it was spent in the US. American national interest.
"But with the Palestinians who are no longer willing to talk about peace, why should we make them one of those future massive payments?" Trump had tweeted about the financing.
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