President Joe Biden has announced $100 million in U.S. assistance for east Jerusalem hospitals that serve as “the backbone” of health care for Palestinians. He spoke Friday during a visit to the Augusta Victoria Hospital, which provides advanced medical care, including radiation treatment for cancer patients and pediatric kidney dialysis, to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The funding is subject to approval by the U.S. Congress and would pay out over several years. Biden called the six hospitals “the backbone of the Palestinian health care system.” The aid came after the Trump administration slashed $25 million to the hospitals in 2018 as part of a larger suspension of aid to the Palestinians. Biden has restored much of that assistance since assuming office, but has made no progress in resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which collapsed more than a decade ago. Dr. Fadi Atrash, the hospital’s CEO, called Biden’s visit a “courageous statement of support for the Palestinian people.” Earlier, two dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in east Jerusalem ahead of Biden’s visit to the hospital. The protesters on Friday held Palestinian flags and posters of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist who was killed in May. The demonstration was held several hundred meters (yards) from the hospital, with Israeli police standing at a distance outside the building. Waiting for Biden: Palestinian journalists wearing shirts with the face of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh – @nurityohanan pic.twitter.com/f2veMA5N0C — Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) July 15, 2022 (AP)

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