Trump to stop engagement with UN Human Rights Council, Palestinian relief agency

President Donald Trump of the United States will on Tuesday stop US engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council and continue a halt to funding for the UN Palestinian Relief Agency, UNRWA.
A White House official made this known on Monday.
The move coincides with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, 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 have not yet responded to the development.
DAILY POST recalls that during Trump’s first term in office, from 2017-2021, 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.
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 US is not currently a member of the Geneva-based body, however, under Democratic former President Joe Biden, the US was re-elected and served a 2022-2024 term.
Since taking office for a second term on January 20, Trump has ordered that the US withdraw from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement – also steps he took during his first term in office.
Meanwhile, Israel’s UN 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 last week said that the agency has been the target of a fierce disinformation campaign to portray the agency as a terrorist organization.
The US 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 October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian militants Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza.
DAILY POST gathered that UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Trump to stop engagement with UN Human Rights Council, Palestinian relief agency