Administration of Donald Trump has decided to cut US support for hospitals in occupied Jerusalem that serve the Palestinian patients, mainly who suffer from Cancer and eye diseases.
These hospitals were supposed to receive more than $20 million according to the foreign aid budget approved by the US Congress for the current year, but the Trump administration decided to cut the funding in its entirety.
A State Department official said on Thursday that this decision is part of the administration’s broader approach of cutting Palestinian aid and investing it in other priorities.
The budget cut could cause harm to at least five hospitals in East Jerusalem, including Augusta Victoria hospital near Mt. Scopus and the St. John Eye Hospital, which is the main provider of eye treatments for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Dave Harden, a former US official who was in charge of USAID in the West Bank, warned on Friday that the decision could lead to the “collapse” of Augusta Victoria hospital.
The hospitals serve not only the city’s Palestinians, but also Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, including cancer patients and children.
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