WASHINGTON, US
United States lawmakers moved Thursday toward prohibiting any further funding for the UN’s embattled agency for Palestinians, which Israel has sought to link to Hamas.
President Joe Biden’s
administration has already suspended funding for UNRWA after Israel alleged
that several of its employees participated in the October 7 attack.
But with the United Nations
warning of famine in Gaza, the Biden administration had hoped to resume support
after an investigation, believing that only UNRWA has the capacity to feed
hungry Gazans.
A $1.2 trillion funding
package hammered out by lawmakers early Thursday says US government money —
either leftover funds from the current year or in the next fiscal year — “may
not be used for a contribution, grant or other payment” for UNRWA.
Lawmakers released the plan to
keep the government running ahead of a deadline of midnight on Friday, when
three-quarters of the government will run out of funds if a deal is not
reached.
Both the Republican-led House
and Democratic-led Senate are expected to approve the plan, which would then be
sent to Biden for his signature, despite misgivings by a number of lawmakers
about some provisions.
House Speaker Mike Johnson
trumpeted the section on UNRWA, saying in a statement that the package “halts
funding for the United Nations agency which employed terrorists who
participated in the October 7 attacks against Israel.”
Representative Ro Khanna, a
progressive Democrat, said he would vote no on the legislation, saying it
effectively deprived food to starving children.
“The America I believe in must
never be indifferent to the man-made starvation of children,” Khanna wrote on
X, formerly known as Twitter.
Israel has accused 12 of
UNRWA’s roughly 13,000 Gaza employees of participating in the attack, which
prompted the Israeli military campaign, and accused the agency of being a front
for Hamas, which controls Gaza.
UNRWA said it fired the employees and is now subject to an independent UN
investigation.
Israel has long criticized
UNRWA, which stands for the UN Relief and World Agency for Palestinian
Refugees.
It is a major provider of
education as well as food to Palestinian refugees, defined as Palestinians who
fled or were expelled around the time of Israel’s 1948 creation, or their
descendants.
This week, Israel barred
UNRWA’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, from visiting Gaza, saying he did not go
through proper procedures.
The State Department said it
provided $121 million to UNRWA in the current fiscal year and that its
suspension only affected about $300,000.
Expecting opposition from
Republicans to resuming funding, the Biden administration has been reaching out
to other countries to make contributions.
Saudi Arabia, which Secretary
of State Antony Blinken visited this week, announced Wednesday that it was
donating $40 million to UNRWA.
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