Washington - Saba:
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has said all its employees were placed on administrative leave or their contracts were terminated, including those in charge of responding to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
The New York Times late on Friday quoted USAID officials as saying that among those paused was an official who was helping coordinate between the Zionist occupation army and relief organizations in Gaza.
The American agency intends to dismiss monitors of the distribution of humanitarian supplies in Gaza, which makes it difficult to identify beneficiaries, the newspaper added, warning that reducing the size of the USAID would jeopardize funding for food and tents in Gaza.
Earlier on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the US Agency for International Development should be shut down, in a new escalation of his campaign against the government agency that is reportedly set to retain just 611 of its 10,000 core employees.
"Corruption has reached levels rarely seen before… SHUT IT UP!" Trump wrote in capital letters on his Truth Social platform.
USAID is being led by the lunatic radical left… Much of this fraud is completely inexplicable," he added.
The agency last Wednesday said all of its employees would be placed on administrative leave effective Friday, February 7, 2025, including those working overseas.
A notice sent to agency employees late Thursday also said the US administration would retain 611 core employees at the agency.
The notice said that the cuts to USAID staff will take effect at midnight Friday, with most essential employees, including thousands of employees abroad, placed on administrative leave.
This comes despite a lawsuit seeking a temporary, and then permanent, order from the court to restore funding for the agency - which distributes humanitarian aid around the world - and reopen its offices and prevent further orders to dissolve it.
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