WASHINGTON, DC, January 24. 2017 – Only hours before leaving office, the Obama administration released $221 million already allocated to the Palestinian Authority but blocked by Congress, the Associated Press said on Tuesday.
The money, part of annual US financial aid to the Palestinians, was released on Friday morning. Donald Trump, a strong backer of Israel, was sworn-in as US president in the afternoon.
The fund, which comes from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was earlier approved by Congress, which later froze it after Palestine joined the International Criminal Court.
However, the administration went along with the congress even though it was not legally binding by its decision until Friday when it released the money.
M.K.
