"Congress and the Obama administration are increasingly at odds over $370 million in annual economic assistance to the Palestinians.
The latest clash comes after the Palestinian Authority (PA) on June 25 shared hundreds of pages of war crimes allegations against Israel with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Key lawmakers said the move should trigger an indefinite suspension of aid, but the State Department told Al-Monitor that it doesn't agree...
State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez told Al-Monitor that while the United States doesn't believe the Palestinians were eligible to accede to the Rome Statute and join the court, it will 'continue to provide critical assistance to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.'
'As you are aware, US law includes certain restrictions on assistance to the Palestinian Authority,' Vasquez said. 'We evaluate all planned assistance to the PA to ensure we are in full compliance with relevant legislation. We do not consider the relevant restrictions on assistance to the Palestinians to have been triggered...'"