RAMALLAH, Thursday, April 08, 2021 (WAFA) - The Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed today the announcement by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the resumption of US assistance to the Palestinian people, including most significantly to Palestine refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Blinken said in a statement yesterday that the United States plans to restart US economic, development, and humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. This includes $75 million in economic and development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, $10 million for peace building programs through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and $150 million in humanitarian assistance for UNRWA.

“This is a positive step in the right direction that will help alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable victims of Israel's illegal policies and practices, including in occupied Jerusalem,” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement. “In this regard, the Ministry views the hyper-hostile Israeli reaction to this development as accurately reflective of Israel's racist policies against the Palestinian people as well as Israel's insistence on denying its historic, legal, political, and moral responsibility towards the Nakba and the compounded injustice Palestine refugees continue to endure.”

The Ministry said it looks forward “to more constructive dialogue with the (US) Biden Administration in order to restore and mend Palestinian-American relations by resolving outstanding issues that deviate from international law and US obligations therein. Such dialogue would clear the path towards a credible political process that can end the Israeli occupation, realize Palestinian independence, and achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in line with international law.”

M.K.