US envoy Haley questions Palestinian refugee numbers
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WASHINGTON - US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday appeared to question the world body's count of Palestinian refugees, the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration challenging how relief aid is delivered to the Palestinians.
In remarks at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank often sympathetic to Israel, Haley agreed with a questioner who suggested that the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), which helps Palestinian refugees, overcounts their number.
The United States earlier this year cut its aid to UNWRA to $60 million from a promised $350 million for the year.
"We will be a donor if it (UNRWA) reforms what it does ... if they actually change the number of refugees to an accurate account, we will look back at partnering them," Haley said.
UNWRA says it provides services to about 5 million Palestinian refugees. Most are descendants from individuals who fled Palestine in the 1948 war that led to the creation of the state of Israel.
