European Union lawmakers are urging the United States to honor its financial pledge to UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, The Associated Press reports.
In a resolution Thursday, the European Parliament “urges the United States to reconsider its decision and to honor the payment of its entire scheduled contribution to the agency.”
The U.S. recently announced it would cut some of its funding to UNRWA, citing a need to undertake a fundamental re-examination of the organization, both in the way it operates and the way it is funded.
The American cut came following recent tweets by President Donald Trump in which he questioned the wisdom of providing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority given their refusal to resume peace talks with Israel.
The European lawmakers welcomed a commitment from Arab League countries to contribute, but called on them to boost their contributions, according to AP.
UNRWA is seeking $800 million for its emergency operations this year.
Following the U.S. cut, Belgium pledged to allocate $23 million to UNRWA, while Britain announced it would continue to support the agency.
UNRWA has long been a target for criticism in light of Hamas's activity in its educational institutions and the use of its facilities by Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations in Gaza.
The agency was documented storing Hamas rockets and weapons "designed to kill Israeli citizens" in its schools, a fact which the UNRWA chief admitted himself.
In addition, the organization has actively taken part in inciting anti-Semitic violence.