by Salim Essaid
UNRWA announced in a press release Tuesday that it will have to cut back on using daily paid contractors as a result of not receiving anticipated income in January 2018, leaving the agency in “an imminent cash crisis.”
The report stated that their budget is “almost exclusively funded by voluntary contributions,” but with no specification of which contributor in particular did not make payments.
This comes after Trump and his administration threatened to cut billions in aid to organizations that rejected the U.S.’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at the U.N. in December of 2017.
The Associated Press reported from an undisclosed source that the “the Trump administration has failed to make a scheduled payment to the United Nations Refugee Agency.”
The source claimed that all the paperwork had been planned to pay $120 million on Jan. 2, which then never happened and took place without notice to the agency.
Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported Trump in delegitimizing payments to UNRWA referencing a tweet the U.S. President had sent.
...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. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
Netanyahu said UNRWA needs to depart from this world, and that the continued support from an agency that specifically supports ongoing Palestinian refugees is a threat to the state of Israel, encouraging the possible right of return.
UNRWA stated that as a result of not receiving their necessary funding, they will prioritize allocating money to the most critical areas needed such as vital medical supplies for clinics, reimbursements for hospitalization expenses and others.
- Under Trump: US Aid to Palestine Hits All Time Low in 10 Years
- Trump Calls Palestinians Unappreciative, Threatens to Cut Aid
