Middle East Monitor / November 30, 2021
The US provided Palestinian hospitals financial support in October, data from the general budget has shown. This is the first such move since March 2017.
Washington suspended its support for the Palestinian budget in the first quarter of 2017, by order of former President Donald Trump, followed by suspending support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
According to budget data released by the Ministry of Finance today, the United States supported the Palestinian general budget with 32.3 million shekels (approximately $10 million).
The Palestinian Ministry of Finance said, in a statement to Anadolu Agency, that the US financial support was allocated to Jerusalem hospitals “to be able to provide services in an optimal manner.”
In addition to this, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has resumed activity in the Palestinian territories, after suspending its work in 2018, and began financing local projects nearly two months ago.
The Palestinian Authority is suffering from a sharp decline in external grants, the severity of which has increased during the current year, with a complete halt to Arab support.
During the first ten months of this year, budget support fell to $49 million, compared to $321 million in the corresponding period of 2020.
