TE24 International Desk:
JERUSALEM – US President Joe Biden on Friday pledged another $ 100 million to help hospitals in East Jerusalem as part of a multi-year effort to support Palestinian medical care.
Biden made the pledge at East Jerusalem’s Augusta Victoria Hospital ahead of a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he wrapped up his first trip to the Middle East before heading to Saudi Arabia.
“Today we are pleased to announce that the United States is offering an additional $100 million to support these hospitals, your partners are working for the Palestinian people,” he said. I did. Funding requires approval by the US Congress and will be paid out over years.
Biden called the six hospitals “the backbone of the Palestinian health care system.” The aid comes after the Trump administration cut $25 million to hospitals in 2018 as part of a major aid freeze for the Palestinians.
Biden has regained much of his support since taking office, but has made no progress in restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that collapsed more than a decade ago. Dr. Hospital CEO Fadi Atlas called Biden’s visit “a bold statement of support for the Palestinian people.”
Israel annexed East Jerusalem in an internationally disapproved move, considering the entire city as its capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future nation and its fate is at the heart of a centuries-old conflict.
East Jerusalem’s six hospitals symbolize the Palestinian presence in the city, as the Palestinian Authority struggles to pay for better treatment for Palestinians.
