<p>The White House this week announced it would halt millions of dollars in funding for a UN agency that helps educate, feed, and provide healthcare for Palestinian refugees throughout the Arab world. ;</p>
<p>The move, which eliminates $300 million in annual funds to the UN Relief and Works Agency ;(UNRWA), follows an earlier decision to cut $200 million in bilateral aid for Gaza and the West Bank. ;</p>
<p>The ;funding cuts are part of a ;wider US strategy to force talks with Palestinian leaders, who are refusing to engage in negotiations following the Trump Administration&rsquo;s recognition of Jerusalem ;as the capital of Israel.</p>
<p>US lawmakers and Israeli officials are also concerned about the UNRWA&#8217;s ;participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>
<p>Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has criticized UNRWA officials for violating their neutrality commitments, demonizing Israel, and turning a blind eye to the activity of terror groups. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We already have great-great-grandchildren of refugees who are not refugees,&rdquo; said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. &ldquo;I suggest a gradual conversion of all funds going to UNRWA to other agencies.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The UNRWA was founded in 1949 to serve the 700,000+ Palestinians who were forced out of their homes in the war to create Israel. Today, there are more than five million people registered as &ldquo;refugees&rdquo; with the organization.</p>
<p>The UNRWA operates more than 700 schools and over 140 healthcare facilities for refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza. Critics fear a reduction in funds could leave thousands of students out of school.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The political instrumentalization of humanitarian assistance in the context of the Middle East may well have widespread dramatic and unpredictable consequences,&rdquo; argues UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness. ;</p>
<p>The Trump Administration has also threatened to cut back on the number of Palestinians registered as refugees with the UNRWA, which it described as &ldquo;irredeemably flawed.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>But international officials warn that restricting the number of Palestinians who qualify for refugee status could leave millions of people without a state.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The effort, coupled with a cut in humanitarian aid, is likely to increase economic and political pressure on neighboring countries in the Middle East already struggling to absorb a more recent influx of millions of refugees from Iraq and Syria,&rdquo; notes<em> The Wall Street Journal.</em></p>
<p>Withholding funds could also make it ever harder to ;broker a peace deal between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the latter of which insist refugees have the right to return to Israel. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;[This decision] does not serve peace but rather strengthens terrorism in the region,&rdquo; argues Palestinian official Mahmoud Abbas, adding that ;the decision to withhold funds is a ;&ldquo;flagrant assault against the Palestinian people and a defiance of UN resolutions.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p><em>The US is by far the UNRWA&rsquo;s largest donor, providing $368 million in 2017 to an overall budget of $1.24 billion. Washington suggested the UNRWA could get its funding back if it made reforms, but did not provide details. It also encouraged the Palestinians to engage in peace talks with Israel. ;</em></p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> ;If they have enough money to support terrorism, they don&#8217;t need humanitarian assistance. This may seem like a cruel step, but their lives will never be normalized until a true peace is negotiated.</p>