Department of Research, Strategic Studies and International Relations 04-02-2025

In a move expected to reshape US foreign policy on global human rights and Palestinian aid, former US President Donald Trump is preparing to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council and extend a funding ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), according to reports from US media outlets citing an unnamed White House official.

This decision is set to be formalized through an executive order, which Trump is expected to sign on Tuesday, the same day he is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu, a longstanding critic of the UN, has been particularly vocal against UNRWA, which provides aid and services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region.

Trump’s Repeated Moves Against UN Institutions

Trump’s anticipated withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council is not unprecedented. During his first term, he pulled the US out of the council in 2018, with his then-UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, justifying the move by citing what she described as the council’s “chronic bias” against Israel. The Human Rights Council, composed of 47 elected UN member states serving four-year terms, is tasked with monitoring global human rights issues, reviewing member states’ human rights records, and appointing independent experts known as UN special rapporteurs.

Under the Trump administration, the US had also exited other major international agreements and organizations, including the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization (WHO), both of which were later rejoined under the Biden administration. With his return to office, Trump has once again begun reversing these reinstatements, following through on his long-standing criticisms of international bodies that he views as counter to US and Israeli interests.

The Human Rights Council periodically evaluates the human rights records of all UN member states, including the US. The US is due for its next review in August.

UNRWA Targeted Amid US-Israel Talks

Alongside the decision to disengage from the Human Rights Council, Trump’s executive order will also extend the US funding freeze on UNRWA, a UN agency that provides humanitarian aid, healthcare, and education to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

Trump had initially cut US funding to UNRWA during his first term, a policy that was later reversed by President Joe Biden. However, in January 2024, Biden’s administration once again halted funding after Israel alleged that some UNRWA employees had been involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Despite the UN later confirming that Israeli authorities had not provided sufficient evidence to support these accusations, the US Congress moved to suspend contributions to UNRWA until at least March 2025.

Israel’s hostility toward UNRWA has intensified in recent months. According to a UNRWA situation report, Israeli military operations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of 272 UNRWA staff members and repeated attacks on agency facilities, including schools where thousands of displaced Palestinians were seeking refuge. In October, the Israeli Knesset passed legislation banning UNRWA operations within Israel, including occupied East Jerusalem, further limiting the agency’s ability to function.