JERUSALEM, September 8, 2018 (WAFA) – As part of its economic war on the Palestinians to get them to accept its terms for a peace deal with Israel, the United States said it will cancel $20 million in aid to Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Saturday.

The US decision against the hospitals came only weeks after it announced that it will stop all $365 million in funds to the United Nations Palestinerefugee agency, UNRWA, and another $200 million for economic and social projects for the Palestinians.

Addressing a conference of Jewish leaders in the US on Thursday, President Donald Trump admitted that his goal is to use US funds to get the Palestinians to surrender to his terms.

“I told them, we’re not paying you until we make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, we’re not paying," he said, as reported in Haaretz, which quoted a US State Department official saying that the decision to stop funding hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem is part of the US administration’s broader approach of cutting Palestinian aid.

Most of the hospitals in East Jerusalem, such as the German Augusta Victoria, the French St. Joseph and the British St. John Ophthalmic Hospital, are charitable organizations and funded by Christian groups. They are the only specialized hospitals that serve the Palestinian community in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

M.K.