In responding to the war in Gaza for more than eight months, President Biden has often seemed weak — upset over the humanitarian toll but not acting firmly to reduce it.
But in one case, Biden was uncharacteristically decisive: After Israel alleged involvement in terrorism by staff members of the United Nations agency at the center of efforts to avert starvation in Gaza, Biden swiftly suspended funding for the agency. Congress then extended the funding freeze.
Yet it now appears that Biden blew it, for the factual basis behind accusations against the agency has proved elusive. It pains me that in a misguided effort to impose accountability, the United States instead appears to have layered additional misery on hungry people.
Far-right Israeli politicians are pushing to abolish the agency in question, UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which provides schools, clinics and other services in the region. A bill in the Israeli Parliament that would ban UNRWA as a terrorist organization easily passed a first reading, leading to international condemnation. Doctors Without Borders called the move “an outrageous attack on humanitarian assistance,” and the European Union described UNRWA as “crucial and irreplaceable.”
I spent a day in the West Bank with an UNRWA team, largely in the Jalazone refugee camp, and it’s clear that the agency provides critical health and education services — and is embattled.
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