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US President Joe Biden signed HB 2882, known as the “Additional Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024,” on Sunday. This act gives federal authorities funding by September 2024 and features a provision that prohibits funds from getting used for the UN Reduction and Works Company for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The act additionally cuts funding to the UN Fee of Inquiry towards Israel and continues the US’s annual safety dedication of $3.3 billion to the nation by grants, which shall be disbursed inside 30 days of the act’s enactment.
Biden characterised the invoice as a compromise and celebrated its passage, saying it “retains the federal government open, invests within the American folks, and strengthens our economic system and nationwide safety.” He went on to record what he noticed because the invoice’s accomplishments, stating:
It rejects excessive cuts from Home Republicans and expands entry to baby care, invests in most cancers analysis, funds psychological well being and substance use care, advances American management overseas, and gives sources to safe the border that my Administration efficiently fought to incorporate. That’s excellent news for the American folks.
Israeli Minister of International Affairs Israel Katz praised the act’s prohibition on UNRWA funds, saying “UNRWA is a part of the issue and can’t be a part of the answer. UNRWA won’t stay in Gaza after Hamas is eliminated.” He repeated Israel’s declare that “1000’s of UNRWA workers are concerned in Hamas’s terrorist actions and their services have been used for terrorist functions” and known as on different nations to ban UNRWA funding.
In distinction, US Senator Bernie Sanders voted towards the act and criticized the act’s support to Israel and ban on UNRWA funding, saying it might exacerbate struggling in Gaza. He said:
Whereas a whole bunch of 1000’s of Palestinian youngsters face hunger in Gaza, this invoice truly prohibits funding to UNRWA, the important thing United Nations support company delivering life-saving humanitarian assist. This may solely intensify the already horrific state of affairs in Gaza. This invoice additionally gives one other $3.3 billion in U.S. navy support for Netanyahu’s right-wing authorities to proceed this barbaric warfare. The Netanyahu authorities shouldn’t obtain one other penny from U.S. taxpayers.
Maya Berry, government director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), joined Sanders in criticizing the invoice, telling Al Jazeera, “Our political course of has chosen to chop US funding to actually the one entity that may handle the extent of struggling and scale of struggling that’s taking place in Gaza proper now.”
In January, UNRWA introduced that it fired a number of workers who have been allegedly concerned within the October 7 Hamas assaults on Israel. In response to this, UN Secretary-Common António Guterres introduced a overview of whether or not the UNRWA is “ensur[ing] neutrality” and correctly responding to allegations of doable breaches. This led a number of nations, together with the US and Canada to droop their funding for the UNRWA after studies emerged that 12 UNRWA workers members have been a part of October 7. Some nations, like Australia and Finland, have resumed their funding.
The European Fee (EC) has elevated their assist for Palestinians by allocating an additional EUR 68 million by worldwide companions, including to the EUR 82 million already designated for the UN Reduction and Works Company (UNRWA) in 2024, totaling EUR 150 million.
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