President Trump’s cuts to all Palestinian USAID programs and US funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency were cruel and counterproductive when they were enacted last year. This year -- as millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank face a COVID-19 pandemic with a battered economy and threadbare healthcare systems -- they risk fueling an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

That’s why it’s so important that after working nonstop to pass emergency relief bills for Americans, eight senators have called on the Trump administration to take swift action to avert catastrophe.

The world has learnt quickly that pandemics don’t respect borders, that viruses don’t distinguish between race, class, religion or nationality. For Israelis and Palestinians, this means that a devastating, uncontrolled outbreak among either peoples will only spell disaster for the other. 

The letter -- signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, Tom Udall, Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, Patrick Leahy, Tom Carper and Sherrod Brown -- requests a full outline of what the administration is doing to help provide the Palestinian people with access to adequate medicine, medical equipment, personnel and other resources to combat this pandemic.

The United States has a key role to play in promoting health, safety and stability in the region, and we must step up to meet this moment.

ADD YOUR NAME NOW to thank Senators Warren, Van Hollen, Udall, Sanders, Merkley, Leagy, Carper and Brown.