US President Joe Biden on Wednesday promised to press for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as he restored aid to the Palestinians.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price stressed that the US “is committed to advancing prosperity, security, and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians in tangible ways in the immediate term, which is important in its own right, but also as a means to advance towards a negotiated two-state solution.”
Price said that reinstating aid to UNRWA puts the US in a better position to address issues including the organization’s neutrality, accountability, and approach to education.
“By resuming this assistance today, we have a seat at the table. We can help drive UNRWA in the ways that we think it is in our interest and consistent with our values to do. Obviously, there are areas where we would like to see reform,” Price said.
“We will continue to be in a position, an even greater position to drive and to steer UNRWA in a direction that we think is productive and useful with this step today.”
The US is proud to restart assistance for the Palestinian people with $75 million in development aid, $10 million in conflict mitigation programs, and $150 million in humanitarian aid to UNRWA, he added.
Price went on saying that this funding comes in addition to the $15 million in humanitarian assistance to address the COVID-19 pandemic and food insecurity the US announced in March.
“All assistance will be provided consistent with US law. Economic assistance includes support for small and medium enterprises’ recovery from the effects of COVID-19; support for needy households to access basic human needs, such as food and clean water; and assistance for Palestinian civil society. A portion of this funding will support the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, as it continues to provide necessary and life-saving treatments to Palestinians,” according to the Department of State.
“We provide assistance in the West Bank and Gaza through experienced and trusted independent partners on the ground, and it’s these partners who distribute directly to people in need, not through government or de facto government authorities. Our development partners in the West Bank and Gaza have aggressive risk mitigation systems in place,” Price said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gueterres further welcomed the US administration’s announcement to restore funding to the UNRWA.
"This would be a very needed, significant amount of money to address the challenges that UNRWA is facing," Palestine's Permanent Ambassador at the UN Riyad Mansour said.
