The US President Donald Trump will issue an executive order withdrawing the US from the UN Human Rights Council and banning funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Politico writes about this, citing sources.
If the United States were to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, it would not be the first time. The same policy was in place during Trumpʼs previous presidency.
The US White House believes that the council "has failed to fulfill its purpose, continuing to be used as a protective body for countries that commit egregious human rights violations", and condemns its position on Israel.
The order is scheduled to be issued a day before President Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on February 4. The United States has long criticized the UN Council for its alleged bias against Israel and its cover-up of governments that violate human rights.
The previous US administration (under Joe Biden) suspended funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after it emerged that UNRWA staff had participated in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
What preceded
In early 2024, Israel officially provided data on 12 UNRWA employees who could have participated in the attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, 2023, when 1 200 people were killed and 253 were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip. Reuters, citing Israeli intelligence, claimed that 190 UN Agency employees participated in the Hamas attack on Israel.
An investigation has begun. UNRWA said it had released the suspects, and the UN promised to punish the perpetrators. Israel says UNRWA has many Hamas members, and the country is working to have the agency stop operating in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz says that “UNRWA is not part of the solution, but part of the problem”. He says a new agency needs to be created to rebuild Gaza.
This summer, the UN admitted that nine employees of the Palestinian aid agency may have participated in a Hamas attack on Israel. They were fired.
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