Trump has ordered that $25m earmarked for the care of Palestinians in East Jerusalem hospitals be directed elsewhere. Notably, East Jerusalem hospitals provide medical services to Palestinians not only in East Jerusalem but also those in the West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“As a result of that review, at the direction of the president, we will be redirecting approximately $25m originally planned for the East Jerusalem hospital network,” the state department official said on Saturday. “Those funds will go to high-priority projects elsewhere."
The new U.S. aid cut could cause harm to at least five hospitals in East Jerusalem, including Augusta Victoria hospital 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 USAID assistant administrator, warned that the U.S. aid cut puts August Victoria hospital in East Jerusalem at risk of “collapse”. Augusta Victoria Hospital is a center of medical excellence in East Jerusalem, serving all 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It offers specialized care not available in other hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza, including radiation therapy for
cancer patients and pediatric hemodialysis.
"We are the only entity that provides critical health services not available elsewhere in Palestine," said Walid Nammour, chief executive officer at Jerusalem's Agusta Victoria Hospital. "Patients should not be caught in the middle of political issues."
“As a result of that review, at the direction of the president, we will be redirecting approximately $25m originally planned for the East Jerusalem hospital network,” the state department official said on Saturday. “Those funds will go to high-priority projects elsewhere."
The new U.S. aid cut could cause harm to at least five hospitals in East Jerusalem, including Augusta Victoria hospital 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 USAID assistant administrator, warned that the U.S. aid cut puts August Victoria hospital in East Jerusalem at risk of “collapse”. Augusta Victoria Hospital is a center of medical excellence in East Jerusalem, serving all 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It offers specialized care not available in other hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza, including radiation therapy for
cancer patients and pediatric hemodialysis.
"We are the only entity that provides critical health services not available elsewhere in Palestine," said Walid Nammour, chief executive officer at Jerusalem's Agusta Victoria Hospital. "Patients should not be caught in the middle of political issues."
Another heathcare centers, Al Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital, said in a statement the U.S. aid cuts come as the "hospital is going through a suffocating crisis as a result of the lack of flow of financial aid, and the piling up of debts and funds held back by the Palestinian government." It said it had received $12.5 million of the U.S. money to treat patients from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
In the statement, hospital CEO Dr. Bassam Abu Libdeh "questioned the justification behind mixing political issues with medical and humanitarian issues.
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