RESTRICTION SUMMARY: APAwire CLIENTS ONLY SHOTLIST: APAwire - APAwire CLIENTS ONLY, Hebron- 13 December 2021. Palestinian students hold banners during a protest at their school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the West Bank city of Hebron.

0.1 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Student, Wajiha Al-Omla
0.2 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Student Aya Al-Sarahin
0.3 SOUNDBITE (in Arabic) Adel Fawara, a member of the Parents Council

STORYLINE:

In April, the US government resumed its financing for UNRWA with $150 million. In May, the US also provided about $33 million in humanitarian assistance to UNRWA in response to the difficult humanitarian conditions that followed the military confrontation between the resistance factions in Gaza and Israel.

During his presidency (2017-2021), Trump gradually cut off the financial aid that had been earmarked for the Palestinians in the US budget for decades.

The US is the largest single contributor to UNRWA, paying about $300 million annually toward the $1.2 billion budget. The agency is the largest employer in the Gaza Strip, with about 13,000 workers in a community where half of the population is unemployed.


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