America off 200 million Palestinians' aid

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a change in the destination of over $200 million in economic aid assigned to Gaza and the West Coast.

A State Department official said the decision was taken after a revision process, “to ensure that these funds are spent in line with American national interests”. The decision comes after about $65m was previously halted by the UN Agency for Assistance to Palestinians.

The relationship between Palestinians and the United States has become very difficult since Trump came to the helm of the White House.

But they reached the lowest level after America recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017. Consequently, Palestinians said that the United States could not proceed with their moderator role in the peace process with the Israelites, thus suspending contact with them.

The US administration, meanwhile, suspended aid to Palestinians in June until a review was conducted based on the Actin “Taylor Force”, a law aimed at forcing the Palestinian Authority to stop paying payments to families of individuals convicted of terrorism against Israel.

Friday, spokesman The UN said the decision to “canized” funds in “project of the highest priority” was made after this review, but did not say where the money would go.