Jerusalem: President Joe Biden has announced $100 million in U.S. assistance for east Jerusalem hospitals that serve as “the backbone” of health care for Palestinians.
He spoke Friday during a visit to the Augusta Victoria Hospital, which provides advanced medical care, including radiation treatment for cancer patients and pediatric kidney dialysis, to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The funding is subject to approval by the U.S. Congress and would pay out over several years.
Biden called the six hospitals “the backbone of the Palestinian health care system.”
The aid came after the Trump administration slashed $25 million to the hospitals in 2018 as part of a larger suspension of aid to the Palestinians. Biden has restored much of that assistance since assuming office, but has made no progress in resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which collapsed more than a decade ago.
Dr. Fadi Atrash, the hospital’s CEO, called Biden’s visit a “courageous statement of support for the Palestinian people.”
Biden was set to meet with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank later on Friday.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for their future state.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and views the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state, and its fate is at the heart of the century-old conflict.
The six east Jerusalem hospitals, which symbolize the Palestinian presence in the city, have faced a funding crisis in recent years, as the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay for advanced treatment for Palestinians.
Augusta Victoria Hospital, which is operated by the Lutheran World Federation, ended 2021 in severe debt, with more than $70 million owed by the PA, according to a letter sent to U.S. lawmakers in May.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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