Israeli premier praises US funding halt to UN Palestinian agency

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again lauded a decision by the administration of US President Donald Trump to halt funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

Speaking in southern Israel, Netanyahu argued on Sunday that the 70-year-old United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) perpetuates the problem instead of solving it.

"The US has done a very important thing by halting the financing for the refugee perpetuation agency known as UNRWA," Netanyahu said, adding "It is finally beginning to resolve the problem."

Netanyahu said the funds withheld by the US should be used to “genuinely help rehabilitate” the refugees. The Israeli premier claimed the number of refugees is much lower than UNRWA’s figures.

The United States announced Friday it was ending funding to UNRWA.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the US decision as a “flagrant assault" against Palestinians on Friday, said his spokesman.

The Trump administration, which is preparing its own Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, separately said on August 24 that it will cut $200 million slated for direct US aid to the Palestinian Authority. It said the budget would be “redirected” elsewhere. 

PressTV-Israel welcomes US halt to aid for UN refugee agency

Israel welcomes a US decision to cut aid to United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees.

Palestinian leaders have accused the Trump administration of seeking to "liquidate" their cause. The Palestinians say the Trump administration is trying to force neighboring countries to absorb refugees and remove the sensitive issue from future negotiations.

Trump has formerly complained that Washington received "no appreciation or respect" for the aid it provided to the region.

Trump's recognition of the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds city as Israel's "capital" has already led Palestinian leaders to cut off contact with the White House.

UNRWA has also rejected the Israeli accusations, saying it operates under a strict mandate outlined by the United Nations.

UNRWA has warned the cuts could hurt its operations, including a network of schools that serves over 500,000 students. The UN agency is now working to find new sources of funding to keep the schools and other services functioning.

Thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the war that led to the creation of the Israeli regime in 1948.

UNRWA has for decades been providing health care, education and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. 

An estimated five million refugees and their descendants are currently recognized as eligible across the region.

The refugees’ “right of return” to their homeland has long been one of the key core issues in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel rejects the right, saying that it represents a bid by the Palestinians to destroy Israel by weight of numbers.

According to a report last month, Trump in early September will set out its policy on the issue. His administration is said to produce a report which would recognize only some half-a-million Palestinians, who should be legitimately considered refugees.

The plan, according to the report, rejects the UN designation, under which millions of descendants of the refugees are also considered refugees.

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