A pair of GOP lawmakers are blocking the State Department from providing $75 million in food assistance for Palestinian refugees, as civil society groups raise alarm over a worsening humanitarian crisis compounded by grain shortages from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican lawmakers on the Senate and House foreign affairs panels, are holding back the State Department from providing funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The U.N. agency supports about 6 million Palestinians across the Middle East — the families and descendants of some 750,000 people made refugees in 1948 from Israel’s war of independence.
UNRWA has long been a target of criticism from Republicans, in particular, and some Israeli officials who say its work is compromised by links to Hamas, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip.
In 2021, the Biden administration restored $235 million in assistance for the Palestinians that was cut by the Trump administration, including aid for UNRWA.
While Democrats acknowledge criticisms against UNRWA, they appropriated the $75 million in food aid for the organization in the 2023 budget for the State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
But Risch and McCaul are frustrating the State Department’s ability to distribute those funds. The State Department has until Sept. 30 to use the money or will likely be forced to redistribute it elsewhere.
Risch’s criticism is centered on wanting the State Department to ensure that the agency is not employing Hamas-affiliated individuals, that its schools are not used as weapons storage for the military group, and that Palestinian Authority education materials used by the U.N. group are revised to address antisemitism and hatred towards Israel.
A congressional aide said the State Department has offered briefings to staff on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but has not been able to adequately address these concerns.
McCaul’s office did not provide comment for this article.
UNRWA is warning that if the funds are not provided by Sept. 1, they will not be able to refill their warehouses with foodstuffs which are distributed among 1.2 million Palestinian refugees, including 500,000 children.
A food basket from UNRWA typically contains wheat flour, rice, sunflower oil, sugar, whole milk, lentils and chickpeas.
More than two dozen civil society groups supporting UNRWA wrote a letter to Risch and McCaul earlier this month urging them to release the funds.
“The generosity of the American people toward those in need has always been commendable and this critical assistance can alleviate further suffering,” the letter read.
“Absent these funds, a devastating humanitarian crisis looms with more than 1.2 million people potentially left without food as early as mid-September, including hundreds of thousands of innocent children who will be left hungry,” it adds.
“Denying food assistance will strip away the last vestiges of hope for people in Gaza who simply yearn for a dignified existence. The repercussions of such a situation could also be catastrophic for regional stability, negatively impacting both Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
About 3 in 4 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip rely on food assistance for between 50 and 60 percent of their caloric needs, which is provided by U.N. agencies like UNRWA and the World Food Program, according to these organizations.
But overall donor fatigue and rising costs of food due to Russia’s war in Ukraine are cutting into these groups operating budgets.
Earlier this month, Russia rejected renewing the Black Sea Grain Initiative that allowed the export of grains from Ukraine and has started targeting attacks on port and agricultural infrastructure, further compromising food supplies for millions around the globe.
In June, the WFP said it was forced to suspend food assistance for 200,000 Palestinians due to funding shortfalls.
UNRWA’s supporters say the organization’s strategy of providing food commodities helps supplement the WFP’s operations, which distribute vouchers for needy families to purchase available groceries.
UNRWA officials are concerned that Congress terminating food assistance to Gaza will trigger a potential humanitarian disaster and contribute to regional instability.
William Deere, director of UNRWA’s Washington office, said UNRWA officials traveled to Washington in late June to discuss the urgency of sending the $75 million in food assistance for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“Agency Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini recently warned its donors that UNRWA is facing a severe financial challenge and unless it receives additional funds will not be able to continue providing its primary health care, education, and social services to Palestine refugees from September onwards,” Deere said.
Senate Democrats are working to preempt Republican opposition to UNRWA funding for 2024.
The Democrat-led Senate Appropriations Committee last week approved text for the 2024 State Department operations bill that put the $75 million UNRWA funding under the banner of the Migration and Refugee Assistance category, writing that they are “concerned with declining donor funding” for the agency.
The MRA category is an attempt to safeguard the funding from being open to congressional holds.
Updated at 6:27 p.m.