US lawmakers lift hold on aid to Palestinians

US lawmakers have lifted a hold on nearly $200 million in aid to the Palestinians that had been suspended in response to their bid for full UN membership, officials said Monday. The US funds were held back in the Congress on August 18, the office of the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, said. The influential congresswoman lifted objections to the release of a first $50 million tranche in a September 2 letter to the US Agency for International Development. A second tranche of nearly $148 million that was supposed to fund the Palestinian police forces was recently unblocked after the committee received assurances about their use and importance to US national security. Even though they have unblocked the aid, Ros-Lehtinen and a number of other Republican and Democratic lawmakers remain vehemently opposed to UN recognition of a Palestinian state. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Congress on October 27 to preserve the aid to the Palestinian Authority, warning that otherwise Hamas could try to fill the void. The United States insists that UN recognition of Palestine would be meaningless unless it first negotiates a peace agreement with Israel. Meanwhile, the Mideast Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- have called for an agreement by the end of 2012. Several US lawmakers have raised the possibility of reviewing US aid to the Palestinians and even Washington's financial contributions to the United Nations, after the Palestinians requested recognition of the United Nations in September. Last week, the United States announced it was cutting off funding to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after it voted to admit the Palestinians as a full member.