RAMALLAH: The director of an east Jerusalem hospital said Sunday that a US decision to cut funding to hospitals serving the Palestinians will have a “severe effect.”
Bassem Abu Libdeh, of the Makassed hospital, said the US covers 40 percent of costs in six east Jerusalem hospitals that provide care for Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Trump administration announced the $25 million funding cut on Saturday, saying it would redirect the money toward “high-priority projects elsewhere.”
The US has also cut funding to UNWRA, which serves Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants across the region.
The moves have added to Palestinian mistrust of the US as it prepares to unveil a peace plan.
