US withdraws from UN Human Rights Council

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The executive order also stops funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and requires the US State Department to reevaluate the UN Educational, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Trump made his announcement on the same day he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has consistently criticized both the human rights body and UNRWA for alleged bias against Israel.

During Trump's first term, the United States withdrew from the UNHRC in June 2018. In February 2021, then Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the Joe Biden administration would reengage with the council as an observer.

Since 1950, UNRWA has been assisting Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.