INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
United States President Donald Trump is expected on Tuesday to stop United States engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council
and continue a halt to funding for the U.N
Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, a White House official said on Monday.The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long been critical of UNRWA, accusing the agency of anti-Israel incitement and its staff of being
&involved in terrorist activities against Israel.The United Nations and UNRWA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.During
Trump&s first term in office, from 2017-2021, he also cut off funding for UNRWA, questioning its value, saying that Palestinians needed to
agree to renew peace talks with Israel, and calling for unspecified reforms, Reuters reported.The first Trump administration also quit the
47-member Human Rights Council halfway through a three-year term over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform
The United States is not currently a member of the Geneva-based body
Under Democratic former President Joe Biden, the United States was re-elected and served a 2022-2024 term.A Human Rights Council working
group is due to review the United States human rights record in August, a process all countries undergo every few years
While the council has no legally binding power, its debates carry political weight and criticism can raise global pressure on governments to
change course.Since taking office for a second term on Jan
20, Trump has ordered that the United States withdraw from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement & also steps
he took during his first term in office.Israel&s U.N
ambassador, Danny Danon, on Monday praised the expected moves by Trump, accusing the Human Rights Council of &aggressively promoting extreme
anti-Semitism.At the same time, UNRWA has long lost its status as an independent humanitarian organization, and has turned into a terrorist
authority controlled by Hamas under the guise of a humanitarian agency,& he said.UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said last
week that the agency has been the target of a &fierce disinformation campaign& to &portray the agency as a terrorist organization.The United
States was UNRWA&s biggest donor & providing $300 million-$400 million a year & but Biden paused funding in January 2024 after Israel
accused about a dozen UNRWA staff of taking part in the deadly Oct
7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian militants Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza, read the report.The United States Congress then
formally suspended contributions to UNRWA until at least March 2025
UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Syria,
Lebanon and Jordan.The United Nations has said that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in the Oct
7, 2023, attack and were fired
A Hamas commander in Lebanon & killed in September by Israel & was also found to have had a UNRWA job
has vowed to investigate all accusations made and repeatedly asked Israel for evidence, which it says has not been provided, Reuters
reported.An Israeli ban went into effect on Jan
30 that prohibits UNRWA from operating on its territory or communicating with Israeli authorities
UNRWA has said operations in Gaza and West Bank will also suffer.The post Trump to target UN Human Rights Council, UN Palestinian relief
agency UNRWA first appeared on Ariana News.
