Palestinians in Gaza protest against US cuts to UNRWA

Schools, clinics and food distribution centres in the Gaza Strip were closed on Monday after 13,000 employees of the United Nations agency that serves the Palestinians walked out

by Mohammed Asad

Palestinians in Gaza protest against US cuts to UNRWA on 13 February, 2018 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinian school children in the besieged Gaza Strip joined a protest against US President Donald Trump’s moves to eradicate the right of return from future negotiations and to cut aid and support to UNRWA.

The Popular Committee for Refugee Affairs organised the event which saw Palestinians holding up banners saying: “Dignity is priceless” and “we will not allow for the only witness to the Palestinian catastrophe to be eliminated”.

During the protest, the head of the Popular Committee in Gaza, Atef Abu Hamada, called for unifying the Palestinian ranks to confront the threats it is facing.

Last month, the US withheld $65 million in aid to UNRWA saying payments would be returned only once changes had been made to the humanitarian organisation.

The United States is the largest donor to UNRWA, providing schools and health care to some 5.3 million refugees in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Palestinians in Gaza protest against US cuts to UNRWA on 13 February, 2018 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

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