Back to Contents He said the mood among Palestinians was one of distress, boiling despair and hopelessness. When the UN agency is struggling financially to deliver the most essential services it creates a deep sense of abandonment, he said. […] Lazzarini said UNRWA was “irreplaceable” when it came to providing education to Palestinian refugees. “It is a good question what happens to these children if we cannot educate them, and the schools are shut. There will be a void. We would enter into uncharted territory, and the question is, who will fill this gap in places like Gaza, in the refugee camps in Lebanon. We do not have the answer.” (Source: The Guardian “UN Palestine refugee aid agency ‘close to collapse’ after funding cuts”, 5 November, 2021) The news and information services company Thomson Reuters wrote on 8 April 2021 that: “Palestinian refugees on Thursday welcomed the U.S. announcement that it will renew humanitarian aid, marking a break with the Trump era. President Joe Biden’s administration said on Wednesday that it will provide $235 million to the Palestinians and restart funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which assists 5.7 million registered Palestinian refugees.” (Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation “Palestinian refugees welcome U.S. decision to restart aid”, 8 April 2021) The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) reported in April 2021 about Biden administration’s financial assistance to UNRWA: “US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to provide $235m (£171m) of aid to Palestinians, restoring part of the assistance cut by Donald Trump. Two-thirds will go to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which has suffered a financial crisis since it lost $360m of US funding in 2018. [...] This news has come as a huge relief to Palestinians. Their economy is propped up by international donors and was left reeling by the dramatic cuts of the Trump administration. [...] At Qalandia refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Hassan Abu al-Eish, 85, said he had felt the effect of the cuts in aid and was left unable to afford the basics. «When Trump arrived, he stopped all the Unrwa funds and closed all the doors on us,» he commented.” (Source: BBC News, “Biden administration to restore $235m in US aid to Palestinians”, 7 April 2021) 3. Assistance provided by UNRWA 31