US President Donald Trump's decision to stop US funding for UNRWA, the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency, is an attack on international law, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki said on Tuesday.
Trump's decision has left the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East with a $200 million shortfall that it is trying to cover from Persian Gulf and European donors, and has further strained tensions between Washington and the Palestinian leadership.
Relations have sharply deteriorated since Trump decided last December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, reversing decades of US policy.
The decision to halt funding for UNRWA prompted Arab warnings that the move could fuel regional crises. Many foreign governments and organizations have criticized the move.
"The US administration has begun to attack the rights of the Palestinian people and international law," Malki said at a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo that was convened to discuss the issue.
Internationally brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have stalled since 2014. The Palestinian leaders say their political situation has deteriorated since Trump took office in January 2017 and the Trump administration is pursuing policies that favor the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close US ally.
Last month, the US announced that it was halting all funding to UNRWA, saying the agency's business model and fiscal practices make it an "irredeemably flawed operation."
Last week, Trump ordered that $25 million earmarked for the care of Palestinians in east Jerusalem hospitals be directed elsewhere as part of a review of aid.
At the Arab League summit, Jordan, a US ally, said the decision would only fuel radicalism and harm prospects for Middle East peace.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Jordan would hold a meeting "in cooperation with Sweden, Germany, Japan, the European Union and Turkey" on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly later this month "in an effort to get more aid."
Three Gulf states have announced a total of $150 million in funding for UNRWA this year, and other countries have made new or increased contributions as the agency scrambles to continue operating.
"I humbly appeal to all of you to ensure the pledges that were made [to UNRWA] are indeed transferred," UNRWA Director Pierre Kraehenbuehl told Arab League delegates in Cairo. "Please also consider opportunities for further donations at this critical time."
Kraehenbuehl also expressed disappointment in the US decision to stop funding for the agency.
"The extremely dramatic circumstances of UNRWA's financial situation are known to you, following the decision by the United States in January to cut funding to our agency by $300 hundred million," he said.
"On the 31st of August, the United States then announced publicly that there will be no further funding to UNRWA, and in an open letter to refugees and UNRWA staff I express my deep regret and disappointment at this decision coming from our historically most generous and consistent donor."
