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U.S. to Hold Back Half of Expected Aid to UNRWA
(Washington Post) Josh Rogin - The State Department on Tuesday sent a letter to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, notifying it that the U.S. will deliver $60 million of assistance for its programs supporting Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank. That's almost half of the $125 million the U.S. had been expected to deliver to UNRWA on Jan. 1. The decision over UNRWA funding represents a middle ground between cutting all funding and business as usual. A State Department spokesperson told me the department believes there is a need to undertake a fundamental review of the way UNRWA operates and the way it is funded. UNRWA was established as a temporary relief program in 1950 and now supports 5 million registered refugees. "The United States should not be asked to bear a disproportionate share of these costs. It is time other countries, some of them quite wealthy, step in and do their part....It is time for a change."