Eleven countries have agreed to advance their annual contributions to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees to help it plug a major shortfall after a partial cut in U.S. funding, the agency chief said on Tuesday.
The U.S. cut was apparently linked to the United Nations vote in December rejecting the Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.
The United States announced earlier this month that it would withhold $65 million of $125 million it had planned to send to UNRWA, which runs schools and clinics for 5.3 million Palestinians across the Middle East, including in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel has accused UNRWA of indirectly supporting terrorism by indiscriminately funneling money to the Palestinians without oversight, some of which is diverted to fund terrorist infrastructure including Hamas attack tunnels leading into Israel, and by allowing blatant anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli materials to be used in UNRWA-funded schools.
"It is very clear that the decision by the United States was not related to our performance," Kraehenbuehl told a news briefing, citing his "very good meetings" with senior U.S. officials in Washington in November.
"This has to be part of the debate that took place around Jerusalem, the vote on Jerusalem at the [U.N.] General Assembly," he said. "And I simply note here again that humanitarian funding should be preserved from being tied up with political considerations."
The 11 countries agreed to advance their donations to finance UNRWA programs in coming months, Kraehenbuehl said after meeting donor representatives. He added that that there was "a sense of coming together."
Seven countries – Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Russia – have already transferred early funds while four more – Belgium, Ireland, Kuwait and the Netherlands – have pledged to do so soon, he said.
Kraehenbuehl launched an appeal for some $800 million to provide aid to Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories this year.
He said UNRWA received $360 million from the United States last year but Washington had cleared only $60 million for 2018 in what he called "a very severe and dramatic change."
UNRWA is supported almost entirely by voluntary contributions from states, and the U.S. is the largest contributor. U.S. President Donald Trump has questioned the value of such funding, and the U.S. State Department said UNRWA needs to make unspecified reforms.
