US gives $15m to Palestinians to fight against COVID-19

US move comes as a ‘renewed commitment to Palestinian people’ after former President Trump’s one-sided support to Israel.

The United States said on Thursday it is giving $15m to vulnerable Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp reversal from the Trump administration which cut off almost all aid to the Palestinians. US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement at the United Nations Security Council’s monthly Middle East meeting, saying the money from the US Agency for International Development will support Catholic Relief Services’ “COVID-19 response efforts in healthcare facilities and for vulnerable families in the West Bank and Gaza”. In addition, she said, the funds will support emergency food aid to communities in need as a result of the pandemic.