Gaza City: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has launched what it is calling an "unprecedented" fund-raising appeal seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in response to funding cuts by the Trump administration.
UNRWA's commissioner-general, Pierre Krahenbuhl, on Monday called last week's US decision "abrupt and harmful." His agency provides education, health and welfare services for more than 5 million refugees and their descendants across the Middle East.
Some two-thirds of Gaza's 2 million people rely on UNRWA for assistance. The "Dignity is Priceless" campaign aims to raise USD 500 million to ensure that the agency's core services are unaffected.
The US, which is the largest donor to UNRWA, withheld a USD 65 million payment. President Donald Trump has blamed the Palestinians for a deadlock in peace efforts and threatened to cut US assistance.