Hamas:

US Decision to Cut Aid to Palestinians Blackmail

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, on Saturday said that the US decision to cut aid to the Palestinians is "cheap political blackmail" that mirrors Washington biased policy in dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

News ID: 443092

Date: 21 January 2019 - 09:57

RNA - Hamas's Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum stated that the decision falls in line with a US-Israeli plan to liquidate the Palestinian cause within the framework of the "deal of the century", Palinfo reproted.

Hamas called on the international community and concerned human rights organizations to act against the US "racist" policies and provide more support to the Palestinian people and their just cause.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will end all its projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following the US administration's decision to cut funding to the Palestinians, Dave Harden, former USAID Mission Director said on Thursday, according to Jerusalem Post.

The daily added that several foreign nationals who were assigned to various USAID projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have left the Palestinian territories in recent weeks together with their families.

The newspaper noted that the decision to cut aid to the Palestinians matches the implementation of an "anti-terrorism" bill approved by the US Congress in October 2018.

The bill requires the Palestinian Authority to stop paying monthly salaries to the families of Palestinian prisoners and martyrs to continue to receive US aid.

In August 2018, US President Donald Trump’s administration notified Congress of its decision to cut more than $200 million in bilateral aid to the Palestinians, following a review of the funding for projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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