US halts funding for Palestinian security forces amid foreign aid freeze: Report

The US halted funding to Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces as part of a broader freeze on foreign aid, officials said yesterday.

According to a report by the Washington Post, the funding cut by US President Donald Trump’s administration comes as the PA struggles to maintain security in the occupied West Bank and prepare for a potential role in governing the Gaza Strip.

Brigadier General Anwar Rajab, spokesperson for the PA security forces, told the Washington Post that the US was a key donor supporting security training programmes. Despite the freeze, a former Israeli official said the US Security Coordinator’s office in Jerusalem remains operational and “other donors have committed to make up the shortfall.”

A Palestinian Authority security training official said, however, that some programmes have already been cancelled and a planned meeting with US officials about security operations in Jenin has been postponed.

The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, has been unable to pay the salaries of public employees in full since November 2021.

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Occupied Palestine remains dependent on Israel for its foreign trade, with almost all imports and exports coming from Israel or Israeli-controlled points.

Israel has been withholding customs duties collected on behalf of the Palestinian government for months.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation army has been conducting military operations in the northern West Bank since 21 January – just two days after a ceasefire came into effect in Gaza, killing more than 55 Palestinians and displacing thousands, according to Palestinian officials.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 917 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli occupation army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza onslaught on 7 October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.