Trump administration withholds $65 million from UN agency for Palestinians

The U.S. is withholding $65 million in funding to the United Nations (U.N.) agency responsible for helping Palestinian refugees, the State Department said Tuesday.

The U.S. will still transfer $60 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), but will withhold $65 million of what was originally a $125 million tranche of funding.

"It's money that's being frozen at this time," Heather Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman, said at a press briefing. "It's not being canceled. It's just being held for future considerations."

Nauert said that additional U.S. funding will be dependent on changes being made at the agency, which provides health care and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries.

The State Department notified UNRWA of the decision in a letter on Tuesday, Nauert said. UNRWA did not immediately respond to The Hill's requests for comment.

Nauert said that the decision was rooted in a concern for how UNRWA is managed, and that the decision to hold the funding was not politically motivated. She also said that the U.S. expected other countries to “step up to the plate” and provide more funding for the agency.

The Associated Press first reported the decision to withhold the funding.

The State Department said earlier this month that the $125 million — about a third of Washington's annual donations to the agency — had not been transferred, pending a review of funding to UNRWA.

Nikki HaleyNimrata (Nikki) Haley Haley: 'Open question' if US athletes will attend Olympics amid North Korea tensions Haley: Trump isn't deciding who controls east Jerusalem Emergency UN Security Council meeting called after Trump's Jerusalem announcement: report MORE, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., also threatened earlier this month to freeze funding for the agency, unless the Palestinians returned to the negotiating table with Israel — a proposition they rejected after President TrumpDonald John Trump House Democrat slams Donald Trump Jr. for ‘serious case of amnesia’ after testimony Skier Lindsey Vonn: I don’t want to represent Trump at Olympics Poll: 4 in 10 Republicans think senior Trump advisers had improper dealings with Russia MORE moved to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Haley then told U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres that the $125 million in funding to UNRWA had been put on hold, according to a U.N. official.

The AP reported on Sunday that the plan to withhold only $65 million, instead of the entire installment, was proposed by Secretary of State Rex TillersonRex Wayne Tillerson Overnight Defense: Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital | Mattis, Tillerson reportedly opposed move | Pentagon admits 2,000 US troops are in Syria | Trump calls on Saudis to 'immediately' lift Yemen blockade Trump has yet to name ambassadors to key nations in Mideast Mattis, Tillerson warned Trump of security concerns in Israel embassy move MORE and Defense Secretary James MattisJames Norman Mattis Overnight Defense: Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital | Mattis, Tillerson reportedly opposed move | Pentagon admits 2,000 US troops are in Syria | Trump calls on Saudis to 'immediately' lift Yemen blockade Trump has yet to name ambassadors to key nations in Mideast Mattis, Tillerson warned Trump of security concerns in Israel embassy move MORE as a compromise.

The U.S. is UNRWA's largest single donor, and the agency relies heavily on that funding to carry out its work. In 2016, the U.S. donated $355 million to the agency.

UNRWA has faced criticism from some Israeli officials, who have accused it of being biased against Israel and backing Palestinian militants. But the Trump administration's move to withhold funding could put more pressure on countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, which have large populations of Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians have rejected the freeze as blackmail, and have insisted that they will not accept U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal in the region, arguing that the Jerusalem decision essentially disqualified Washington from doing so.

Jerusalem is revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews, and Israelis consider the city their capital. But Palestinians have also long aspired to establish east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

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