Trump Signs Order to Withdraw the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council.

On Tuesday, February 4, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that established a more comprehensive assessment of US funding for the global organisation and withdrew his nation from several United Nations committees, including the Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The executive order stated that Washington will reconsider its participation in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and withdraw from the UNHRC and UNRWA, the primary UN assistance agency for Palestinians.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has long criticised UNRWA, accusing it of inciting anti-Israel sentiment and its employees of being “involved in terrorist activities against Israel.”

The move comes as Netanyahu is in Washington.Trump also halted funding for UNRWA during his first term in office, which ran from 2017 to 2021.

He questioned the organization’s worth, claimed that Palestinians must consent to a renewal of peace talks with Israel, and demanded unnamed improvements.

Midway through its three-year term, the first Trump administration also resigned from the 47-member Human Rights Council, citing what it described as a lack of reform and persistent prejudice against Israel.

The Geneva-based organisation does not currently have the United States as a member.

Trump, who took similar actions during his first term in office, has ordered the United States to leave the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation after taking office for a second term on January 20.

The United States was UNRWA’s largest donor, with $300–400 million annually.

However, Biden suspended funding in January 2024 after Israel accused over a dozen UNRWA employees of participating in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that started the war in Gaza.

Then, until at least March 2025, the U.S. Congress formally halted funding for UNRWA.

Millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, which includes East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, receive relief, health care, and education services from UNRWA.