Palestinians rallied in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday against a U.S. congressional move blocking nearly $200 million in aid to Palestine. U.S. lawmakers have frozen the funds in a bid to subvert the Palestinian effort for statehood recognition at the United Nations. Palestinian Authority Economy Minister Hasan Abu-Libdeh said the aid freeze threatens development projects for Palestinians on the ground.

Hasan Abu-Libdeh: “This is an adverse decision…that turns the American Congress into one of the tools of Israeli pressure on the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian National Authority. But I would like to stress that the amounts that are being talked about are not aid to the PNA, but funds to implement projects on the ground in the Palestinian territories.”