Trump to sign order for US to quit UN Human Rights Council, pause funding for UN Palestinian agency

Under Trump’s first tenure, the US had exited the Human Rights Council accusing it of chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform.

By: Express Web Desk

February 4, 2025 07:21 AM IST

2 min read

unhrc donald trump unrwa human rights council

When Trump served as the US president for the first term from 2017-2021, he had cut the funding of UNRWA questioning its value. (AP Photo)

The US President Donald Trump might discontinue America’s engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and would continue to keep a halt on funding for the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, a White House official said on Monday, Reuters reported.

The United Nations and the UNRWA have not commented on the development, however, the decision is poised to coincide with the visit of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the US who has earlier accused UNRWA of running anti-Israel incitement and its staff of being “involved in terrorist activities against Israel.”

Since Trump took office for the second time on January 20, he has signed orders for a US withdrawal from the World Health Organisation and Paris climate deal which partially mirrored his first term’s decision making.

When Trump served as the US president for the first term from 2017-2021, he had cut the funding of UNRWA questioning its value, saying that Palestinians needed to agree to renew peace talks with Israel.

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Under Trump’s first tenure, the US had exited the Human Rights Council accusing it of chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform. But under former President Joe Biden, US was re-elected and served a 2022-2024 term.

A Human Rights working group was poised to review the track record of US human rights in August. The UNHRC has no legally binding powers, however, its debates and reports carry impact and make governments across the globe to change tactics in international pressure.

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon praised the move Trump is expected to take against the UN Human Rights Council and accused it of “aggressively promoting extreme anti-Semitism.”

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Danon said, “At the same time, UNRWA has long lost its status as an independent humanitarian organization, and has turned into a terrorist authority controlled by Hamas under the guise of a humanitarian agency,” as quoted by Reuters.

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