U.S. halts funding to U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the decision as "a flagrant assault against the Palestinian people and a defiance of U.N. resolutions." State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the business model and fiscal practices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) made it an "irredeemably flawed operation." "The administration has carefully reviewed the issue and determined that the United States will not make additional contributions to UNRWA," she said in a statement. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness voiced the agency's "deep regret and disappointment" at the decision, which he said was surprising given that a December U.S. funding agreement had acknowledged UNRWA's successful management.

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