US Halts $125 Million in Funding for Palestinian Refugees

The US has reduced funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East by almost 33 percent, according to multiple published reports.

The decision was spurred by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's unwillingness to participate in peace talks with Israel following US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli state December 6.

Several Western diplomats confirmed that $125 million in financial assistance the US was supposed to send to UNRWA by January 1 had been withheld. A State Department disputed having a January 1 deadline to transfer the funds, though, telling Axios, "There are still deliberations taking place, and we have until mid-January to decide what we are going to do."

Earlier in the week, Trump complained on Twitter that "we pay the Palestinians HUNDREDS OF...