Donald Trump and Mahmoud Abbas
Donald Trump and Mahmoud AbbasFlash 90

The Palestinian Authority on Friday denied receiving any financial aid from the US administration, saying that contacts between the two sides are still suspended, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Ibrahim Milhem, spokesman of the PA cabinet, said in a press conference held in Ramallah that "we have not received any money from the current US administration and there are no relations or contacts with it."

On Thursday it was reported that the Trump administration plans to give $5 million in humanitarian assistance to help hospitals in PA-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

The report was later confirmed in a tweet by the US Ambassadors to Israel, David Friedman.

Over the last three years, the Trump administration has cut almost all civilian and humanitarian aid to the PA, worth around $500 million per year.

In August of 2018, Trump's administration decided to completely halt its funding for the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees” (UNRWA), which had previously stood at around $350 million a year.

Later, it announced it would cut $25 million more in direct aid to six hospitals that primarily serve Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem.

In another move, Washington cut aid to the PA for programs supporting conflict resolution with Israelis.

The PA has boycotted the US since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December of 2017 and has rejected the Administration’s peace plan on the grounds that it is biased in Israel’s favor.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)