U.S. President Donald Trump is set to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Tuesday and extend the suspension of funding for the United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, a White House official confirmed on Monday.
The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 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 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Actions During First Term
During Trump’s first term in office, from 2017-2021, he 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, and he also quit the 47-member UNHRC halfway through a three-year term what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform.
The U.S. is not currently a member of the Geneva-based body. Under Democratic former President Joe Biden, the U.S. was re-elected and served a 2022-2024 term.
A Human Rights Council working group is due to review the U.S. human rights record in August, a process all countries undergo every few years. While the council has no legally binding power, its debates carry political weight and criticism can raise global pressure on governments to change course.
Since taking office for a second term on January 20, Trump has ordered that the U.S. withdraw from the World Health Organization and from the Paris climate agreement – also steps he took during his first term in office.
Israel Vs UNRWA
Israel’s U.N. 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 said last week that the agency has been the target of a “fierce disinformation campaign” to “portray the agency as a terrorist organization.”
UNRWA’s Biggest Donor
The U.S. 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 Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian militants Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza.
The U.S. Congress then formally suspended contributions to UNRWA until at least March 2025. UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
UNRWA Staff Under Scrutiny
The United Nations has said that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in the October 7, 2023, attack and were fired. A Hamas commander in Lebanon – killed in September by Israel – was also found to have had a UNRWA job. The U.N. has vowed to investigate all accusations made and repeatedly asked Israel for evidence, which it says has not been provided.
An Israeli ban went into effect on Jan. 30 that prohibits UNRWA from operating on its territory or communicating with Israeli authorities. UNRWA has said operations in Gaza and the West Bank will also suffer.
(With inputs from Reuters)
