For Immediate Release

Office of Press Relations
press@usaid.gov

Press Release

Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in Ramallah more than $38 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people, in response to recent violence that displaced more than 100,000 people in Gaza and created urgent needs in Gaza and the West Bank. This new funding includes nearly $33 million from the Department of State to support the efforts of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the West Bank and Gaza, and $5.5 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID’s new assistance will support humanitarian partners in Gaza to deliver critical health assistance, mental health and psychosocial support, protection against gender-based violence, and cash assistance to help families purchase basic necessities from local markets.

Further, USAID is working with Congress to provide $75 million in Fiscal Year 2021 funds for additional development and economic assistance over the next year to support continued relief and recovery in Gaza, as well as to advance private sector growth and access to basic needs and services and respond to other development needs in the West Bank and Gaza. Pending Congressional approval, approximately $10 million in FY 2020 funds announced in April will support USAID programming that builds people-to-people relationships to advance reconciliation and lessen tensions and violence.

The assistance announced yesterday was in addition to the more than $250 million in economic, development, security, and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people announced in March and April. This includes USAID and Department of State humanitarian funding supporting COVID-19 response efforts and food assistance, which is now also supporting relief and recovery efforts in the West Bank and Gaza by improving access to healthcare and addressing food insecurity.

For the latest updates on USAID’s humanitarian assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, visit West Bank and Gaza | US Agency for International Development.

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