A U.S. Funding Review Is Hurting Aid Groups and Palestinians

In January, Donald Trump’s administration suspended the financial aid it provides Palestinians, pending what it said was a review. Seven months later, not only are there few indications the review is complete, but the freeze on tens of millions of dollars in mostly humanitarian aid has hobbled the aid agencies that receive the funds, and, more consequentially, crippled the lives of more than 1 million people who live in dire need.  

“A lot of donors have put more money on the table: the U.K., Canada, Japan, but it’s not enough,” Jamie McGoldrick, the United Nations development and humanitarian coordinator in Palestine, told me in a recent interview. McGoldrick added that many of the commitments were front-loaded—in other words, countries were taking a portion of next year’s commitment to Palestinians and disbursing them this year. “What comes after that is uncertainty,” he said.

Already, he said, there has been a slow but sure collapse of water supply and sanitation in the Gaza Strip, the coastal enclave that is controlled by Hamas, aMcGoldrickPalestinian Authority’s .