USAID to Palestinians in Occupied Territories Entirely Halted

Palestinian Authority requests halt as US threatens lawsuits

USAID has halted all shipments of humanitarian aid to Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories today at the request of the Palestinian Authority. This comes as the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) takes effect.

ATCA allows Americans to sue any recipients of US foreign aid for “acts of war,” and was aimed at the Palestinians in particular, with many in Congress presenting it as a pro-Israel vote. Israel did not see it that way, however, and has been urging the Trump Administration to find a workaround.

The problem with ATCA is that the US had already so drastically cut aid to the Palestinians, that by the time it went into effect, there was so little left the Palestinian Authority believed it was safer not to take it. This includes funds meant to support security coordination with Israel, which means that coordination is up in the air.

With security coordination one of the last venues of cooperation between Israel and Palestine, the loss of such coordination could easily lead the PA leadership to take more drastic moves in the international community, figuring they don’t have much else to risk in the way of Israeli ties in trying to get support from the UN on serious policy matters.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.