Gaza Minister of Foreign Affairs and Planning Mohammed Awad has denied media reports that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has frozen operations of the institutions it funds in the Gaza Strip.
“Reports that the American agency has frozen its operations in the Strip are just media news not reported to the foreign ministry,” Awad said in a statement.
“Delegates from the agency have been met with, and it has been agreed with them to develop a framework clarifying the mechanisms of action in the management of the institutions in a way that conforms with Palestinian law and controls the functioning of these institutions in Gaza,” Awad said.
He also said that the government in Gaza would administer a workshop where foreign institutions operating in the Strip would be invited for further explanation and to take into account several observations to be spoken about.
In response to statements that Hamas was trying to enforce its political agendas on the work of the USAID funded institutions, Awad said: “The matter is not political. But there are mechanisms according to Palestinian law stating [this] clearly, and USAID has no problem with this.”
He pointed out that the Palestinian law tries to control the operations of foreign institutions inside the Gaza Strip, a matter that would be fully discussed during the workshop.
