The Biden administration "quietly" sent over $3 million to the Palestinian Authority to support training for its security forces shortly before President Trump took office.
The controversial payments, reported by the Washington Free Beacon, came after a watchdog group accused the Palestinian Authority of waging attacks on Israelis.
While the United States has backed the Palestinian Authority for decades, the organization has been accused of harboring covert ties to terrorists.
President Trump cut funding to the Palestinian government during his first term, but Biden instead prioritized building up the Palestinian Authority to play a role in Gaza's future following the end of Israel's war with Hamas.
Indeed, the Biden administration sent $3 million to the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) for "firearms and ammunition" training on January 3, according to the Free Beacon. The funding was part of a $20 million expenditure to support regional security in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Jordan.
It comes as the Palestinian Authority, following a rare crackdown on militants in the West Bank, seeks a $680 million four-year commitment from the United States to build up its security forces.
Despite the Palestinian Authority's moderate image, a report from Palestinian Media Watch, a non-governmental organization associated with Israel's right-wing, found that members of the PASF were behind dozens of attacks on Israelis.
Some PASF forces have been glorified as "martyrs" by terror groups like the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the report found.
While the U.S. has provided security assistance to the Palestinian Authority since the 1990s, its alleged softness toward terrorism has led some to question if it can maintain regional stability.
"The PASF have demonstrated an ongoing inability to maintain order in the West Bank, a fact made more concerning by emerging reports of the group’s ties to terrorism in the region," Republican Michael McCaul (Tx.), former chair of the Foreign Affairs panel, told the Free Beacon. "As everyone knows, money is fungible."
The Trump administration has pressed pause on all foreign aid, as part of a wider effort to cut waste in government spending.
"The Department and USAID take their role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously," a State Department spokesman told the Free Beacon.
In an overture to Trump, the Palestinian Authority has ended its so-called "pay-to-slay" program, which supports the families of Palestinian terrorists.
Trump and Biden both claimed credit for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that was announced in January, shortly before Trump's inauguration. Trump has cast doubt on the cease-fire's longevity, however, as he floats a plan for the U.S. to take control of war-torn Gaza.
