by Elad Benari
The move follows an agreement in which UNRWA condemns anti-Israel hatred.
The Biden administration paid $135 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Saturday after an agreement was signed last week, which for the first time, condemns anti-Israel hatred, i24NEWS reports.
"The signing of the framework agreement between the United States and UNRWA, as well as this support, demonstrates that the United States is once again a permanent partner who understands the need to provide assistance to some of the most important refugees. vulnerable in the region," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini was quoted as having said.
UNRWA announced the news of the US grant and the framework agreement the day after the end of the visit of the US Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, Hady Amr, to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which started on July 11.
American financial assistance to the agency is traditionally accompanied by a framework cooperation agreement, the latest version of which was signed on July 14.
For the first time, the agreement contains a paragraph condemning anti-Semitism, including stating that: "The United States and UNRWA unreservedly condemn all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnicity or religious belief, including ant-Semitism."
UNRWA also claimed that it was committed to ensuring that its funds were not transferred to individuals engaged in terrorism or used to support terrorism.
Created in 1949, UNRWA supplies aid to more than three million of the five million registered “Palestinian refugees” in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and territories assigned to the Palestinian Authority.
However, it is also notorious for its anti-Israel activities. During the 2014 counterterrorism Operation Protective Edge, Hamas rockets were discovered inside a school building run by UNRWA.
Likewise, a booby-trapped UNRWA clinic was detonated, killing three IDF soldiers. Aside from the massive amounts of explosives hidden in the walls of the clinic, it was revealed that it stood on top of dozens of terror tunnels, showing how UNRWA is closely embedded with Hamas.
In April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning UNRWA for teaching hate and violence in Palestinian Authority (PA) schools.
Last month, a cross-party group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) demanded an investigation into UNRWA over the revelations of anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in its educational materials.
The US, which was previously UNRWA's largest contributor, cut a full $300 million in funding to the agency in 2018, when Donald Trump was President. However, the Biden Administration has announced it intends to resume aid to UNRWA as well as other aid to the Palestinian Authority which was suspended by the Trump Administration.
Elad Benari
Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310117
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