The Economist: UN Refugee Agency for Palestinians Running Out of Cash

The Trump administration’s decision to withhold $305 million of $365 million annually directed to the UN’s Relief and Works Agency is poised to cause further damage to the 2 million people of Gaza. Moreover, the crisis looms large against the backdrop of increased tension between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza. Since the end of March, a series of protests near the border fence with Israel has given way to 120 Gazans killed by the Israeli military. Gazan people express concern that Israel is preparing for another full-scale war. Meanwhile, the UNRWA pleads with wealthy Arab countries for assistance. The agency is responsible for the education of 270,000 children in Gaza and runs a number of clinics. US and Israeli critics argue that many of the beneficiaries of the agency’s services should not be counted as refugees at all, given the fact that most are second- or third-generation descendants of the approximately 700,000 Palestinians who were violently displaced by Israel’s creation in 1948. –YaleGlobal