Trump Administration Ends US Endorsement of UNRWA

Women enter an United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Jerusalem Health Centre in Jerusalem’s Old City, January 27, 2025, REUTERS
Women enter an United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Jerusalem Health Centre in Jerusalem’s Old City, January 27, 2025, REUTERS
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Trump Administration Ends US Endorsement of UNRWA

Women enter an United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Jerusalem Health Centre in Jerusalem’s Old City, January 27, 2025, REUTERS
Women enter an United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Jerusalem Health Centre in Jerusalem’s Old City, January 27, 2025, REUTERS

The Trump administration has reversed the Biden administration’s endorsement of the United Nations agency helping Palestinian refugees.

Israel will ban the agency known as UNRWA in areas under sovereign Israeli control starting Thursday. The US Congress has already cut funding for UNRWA until March, reported The Associated Press.

The US said Tuesday it supports Israel’s decision to close UNRWA’s office in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, and said the agency’s alleged ties to Hamas have “tainted” its work and credibility.

US deputy Ambassador Dorothy Shea told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday that there are other humanitarian organizations in Gaza with the experience and expertise to do UNRWA’s job.

“What is needed is a nuanced discussion about how we can ensure that there is no interruption in the delivery of humanitarian aid and essential services,” Shea said.



Egypt, Spain Reject US Plan to Displace Gazans

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
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Egypt, Spain Reject US Plan to Displace Gazans

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday rejected a controversial proposal by US President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians from the war-devastated Gaza Strip.  

The Arab League is scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting in Cairo on March 4 in response to Trump's plan to take over Gaza and permanently move its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere, including to Egypt and Jordan, and then redevelop the coastal territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East".  

Speaking in Madrid ahead of the gathering, Sisi called for the "international community's support and adoption of a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing the Palestinian people -- I repeat, without displacing the Palestinian people -- from their land, which they cling to, and their homeland, which they do not agree to relinquish".

Sanchez, one of the staunchest defenders of the Palestinian cause within the European Union, agreed, saying "Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is part of the future Palestinian state".

"Their expulsion would not only be immoral and contrary to international law and United Nations resolutions, but would also have a destabilizing effect," the Socialist premier added.  

The two leaders also signed a declaration upgrading Egypt-Spain relations to a "strategic partnership", as well as several memorandums of understanding in various fields including illegal migration and defense.  

Trump's plan sparked an outcry from Arab governments as well as from world leaders, and the United Nations warned against "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory.