Lawmakers Want To Prohibit Funding of UN Palestinian Aid Agency With Latest Budget Bill

Lawmakers have introduced a spending package that would prohibit funding the United Nations agency primarily responsible for supplying lifesaving aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

The provision, included in the $1.2 trillion bipartisan budget plan proposed Thursday in an effort to avoid a partial U.S. government shutdown, comes as Palestinians face a starvation crisis because of Israel’s ongoing military offensive that began after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack Oct. 7.

House Republicans promoted the spending package by citing several ways it would assist Israel in its offensive, the most notable being the prohibition of funding the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) through March 2025. The provision is part of the proposed State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Act that’s included in the spending package.

The provision, however, brought criticism from some Democrats concerned about the lack of aid entering Gaza and the U.S. government’s role in the humanitarian crisis.

“UNRWA is the primary means of distributing desperately needed assistance in Gaza — so denying funding for UNRWA is tantamount to denying food to starving people and restricting medical supplies to injured civilians,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a statement Thursday.“It also means cutting support for services — including schooling and health care — for over a million Palestinians in the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.”

“I am deeply frustrated and disappointed by this ban on funding UNRWA at a time when the humanitarian support it provides is so desperately needed.”

Lawmakers included the provision after Israel earlier this year accused a dozen UNRWA employees — 0.09% of the agency’s staff — of participating in the Oct.