US Releases Funds to Palestinian Authority

JERUSALEM, Israel — Lawmakers in Washington have unfrozen $40 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority.
Those funds were frozen following the P.A.’s unilateral statehood bid at the United Nations last September.
The $40 million, about 20 percent of the nearly $190 million of the current fiscal year’s U.S. funding, will be transferred to the Palestinians for economic and humanitarian aid.
The Obama administration is urging Congress to release the balance of the 2011 funds, approximately $147 million.
The administration has asked Congress to allocate nearly $546 million to the P.A. in the new fiscal year.