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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump has ordered $ 25 million for Palestinian care in East Jerusalem hospitals to be sent elsewhere as part of a study of US aid. said Saturday a US Department of State official.
FILE PHOTO – The President of the United States, Donald Trump, goes to Marine One as he leaves the White House in Washington, United States, on September 6, 2018. REUTERS / Chris Wattie
Trump called for a review of US assistance to the Palestinians earlier this year to ensure that funds were spent according to US national interests and added value to taxpayers.
"As a result of this review, under the leadership of the President, we will re-route approximately $ 25 million originally planned for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network," said the State Department official. "These funds will go to high priority projects elsewhere."
The cut in aid is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration that have alienated the Palestinians, including the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the displacement of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
This decision was a reversal of long-standing American policy and led Palestinian leaders to boycott Washington's peace efforts led by Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Last month, the Trump administration said it would redirect $ 200 million of Palestinian economic support funds to programs in the West Bank and Gaza, in a context of deteriorating relations with Palestinian leaders.
And at the end of August, the Trump administration suspended all funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which further increased tensions with Palestinian leaders .
Palestinian refugees were appalled by the funding halts, warning that this would lead to more poverty, anger and instability in the Middle East.
A statement from the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the latest humanitarian aid was part of an American attempt to "liquidate the Palestinian cause" and that it would threaten the lives of thousands of Palestinians and the livelihoods of thousands of Palestinians. 39, hospital employees.
"This dangerous and unjustified American escalation has crossed all the red lines and is considered a direct aggression against the Palestinian people," the statement added.
Washington said UNRWA was to undertake unspecified reforms and called on Palestinians to resume peace talks with Israel.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks brokered by the United States collapsed in 2014 and an offer by the Trump administration to revive them showed little sign of progress.
Report by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Additional report by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Edited by Paul Simao
