WEB DESK
The US government has announced it will stop funding a UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert issued a statement on Friday. It said the United States will not make additional contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA.
She said that the agency’s “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries is simply unsustainable.”
The spokesperson said that the US will no longer commit further funding to what she called an “irredeemably flawed operation.”
The US was the largest contributor to UNRWA, providing about 30 percent of its budget.
In January, the administration of President Donald Trump withheld funding for UNRWA.
The move was in retaliation for Palestinian protests against the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The US administration also announced last month that it would cut 200 million dollars in bilateral aid to the Palestinians.