US President Donald Trump’s administration has stopped all funding for the Palestinian Authority’s security forces as part of its recent aid cuts, according to a Wednesday report.
US and Palestinian officials told The Washington Post about the freeze, which comes amid a significant rise in terror activity in the West Bank. The Jerusalem Post previously reported that the IDF was dealing with levels of terror in the West Bank similar to those around the time of the Second Intifada.
Trump’s first administration had stopped all direct aid to the PA except for funding for training and reform for the security forces. The PA’s security forces are trained through the Jerusalem-based Office of the Security Coordinator, which the US and various countries run.
The spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Brig.-Gen. Anwar Rajab told The Washington Post that the US is considered to be a “big donor to the PA projects,” including security and empowerment training for the forces.
The report also cited an anonymous Israeli official who said that the Office of the Security Coordinator was “not affected in any meaningful way” by the aid freeze. He also stated that “other donors have committed to make up the shortfall” that the US aid freeze has caused.
However, a colonel in charge of training at the PA’s Central Training Institute told The Washington Post that the freeze has already paused security training. He also spoke on the condition of anonymity according to his office’s protocol.
US aid freezes PA security forces
The anonymous PA official said the US was funding a virtual shooting range for the institute, which it needs since Israel does not allow the PA to import bullets for live-fire training sessions because of security reasons.
The virtual range was almost completed before the aid freeze, and its construction has since stopped. The security training institute is now looking for alternative funders, the report said.
The official also said that a meeting between the US and PA security forces to examine the PA’s operations against terrorist activity in Jenin, which paused after the IDF began operations in the West Bank last month, was postponed and hasn’t been rescheduled.