WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration has lifted a mysterious “hold” on more than $100 million in security aid for Lebanon, congressional and State Department officials said, more than a month after lawmakers learned the funds were being blocked.
As first reported by Reuters, the US State Department told Congress on Oct. 31 that the White House budget office (OMB) and National Security Council had decided to withhold $105 million in foreign military assistance, without providing any explanation.
As lawmakers demanded answers from the administration about why the aid had been withheld, some compared it with a similar decision from the administration to withhold nearly $400 million in security assistance to Ukraine that also had been approved by Congress.
That decision has been at the center of an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
Members of Congress and US diplomats had strongly opposed the move to withhold the aid to Beirut, saying it was crucial to support Lebanon’s military as it grappled with instability within the country and the region.
Congressional aides said on Monday the administration had still provided no explanation for the decision to withhold the money, which had been approved by Congress and the State Department.
They said the OMB released the hold last Wednesday and the administration had begun to “obligate” it, or finalize contracts for how it should be spent.
A senior State Department official confirmed that the money had been released but declined to provide an explanation for why it was suspended or why it was released, beyond referring to recent comments by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.
Hale said during congressional testimony that there had been some disagreements about the efficacy of US aid to the Lebanese armed forces.
On Monday, the senior State official said on a conference call with reporters that Lebanon’s army is “an excellent partner to the United States” in fighting extremism.
Lebanon also houses thousands of refugees from war in neighboring Syria.
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Trump administration lifts hold on Lebanon security aid
Trump administration lifts hold on Lebanon security aid
- As lawmakers demanded answers from the administration about why the aid had been withheld
Aid trucks resume crossing Egypt-Gaza border after closure
- More than 100 aid trucks crossed the Egyptian side of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, two sources told AFP
RAFAH: More than 100 aid trucks crossed the Egyptian side of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, two sources told AFP.
Israel closed all crossings into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, after it launched a joint attack on Iran with the United States.
It agreed to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing, where trucks from Egypt are inspected, for the “gradual entry of humanitarian aid.”
“More than 100 United Nations aid trucks, including UNICEF’s, entered the Rafah border crossing” on Tuesday, a source at the border told AFP on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
An official with the Egyptian Red Crescent, which coordinates aid deliveries, said the trucks “went through Rafah to the Kerem Shalom crossing,” where Israeli authorities did not send any back to Egypt — their procedure when aid shipments are rejected.
Both sources said no Palestinians were allowed through the crossing on Tuesday.
The Rafah crossing, the only gateway for Gazans to the outside world that does not pass through Israel, had reopened for a trickle of people on February 2, nearly two years after Israeli forces seized it.
A statement from the Red Crescent on Tuesday said the convoy included hundreds of tons of food, relief supplies and “fuel products to operate hospitals and vital facilities.”
The UN had warned its partners were “forced to ration fuel, prioritize life-saving operations” in the devastated Palestinian territory.
The Red Crescent official said another aid convoy was sent on Wednesday and was waiting to be allowed in.
The October peace deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas stipulates that 600 aid trucks should be allowed in per day.
Israel closed all crossings into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, after it launched a joint attack on Iran with the United States.
It agreed to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing, where trucks from Egypt are inspected, for the “gradual entry of humanitarian aid.”
“More than 100 United Nations aid trucks, including UNICEF’s, entered the Rafah border crossing” on Tuesday, a source at the border told AFP on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
An official with the Egyptian Red Crescent, which coordinates aid deliveries, said the trucks “went through Rafah to the Kerem Shalom crossing,” where Israeli authorities did not send any back to Egypt — their procedure when aid shipments are rejected.
Both sources said no Palestinians were allowed through the crossing on Tuesday.
The Rafah crossing, the only gateway for Gazans to the outside world that does not pass through Israel, had reopened for a trickle of people on February 2, nearly two years after Israeli forces seized it.
A statement from the Red Crescent on Tuesday said the convoy included hundreds of tons of food, relief supplies and “fuel products to operate hospitals and vital facilities.”
The UN had warned its partners were “forced to ration fuel, prioritize life-saving operations” in the devastated Palestinian territory.
The Red Crescent official said another aid convoy was sent on Wednesday and was waiting to be allowed in.
The October peace deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas stipulates that 600 aid trucks should be allowed in per day.
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