United States donates $100 million to UNRWA

The Palestinian Authority (PA) announced yesterday that the US has offered $100 million in aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Anadolu agency reported.

PA Prime Minister Rami Hamadallah thanked the US for its support and its services in supporting Palestinian refugees, noting that the PA is currently suffering from a severe financial crisis.

Last month, UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl said that the organisation is expected to face a deficit of $81 million in 2016.

Krähenbühl announced the NGO’s budget for the first half of 2016 as $680 million, noting that these funds are to cover aid and services for Palestinian refugees in Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Meanwhile, Hamadallah called for the US to put more pressure on Israel in order to stop its aggression against the Palestinians and lift its restrictions on the use of Palestinian resources in Area C.

UNRWA has recently been suffering from worst financial crisis since it was established. The organisation even threatened to postpone the start of the school year in September in order to cut costs.

The US did not offer any financial assistance to the PA in 2015.