WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to withhold tens of millions of dollars from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, cutting the year’s first contribution by more than half or perhaps entirely, and making additional donations contingent on major changes to the organization, according to US officials.
President Trump hasn’t made a final decision, but appears more likely to send only $60 million of the planned $125 million first installment to the UN Relief and Works Agency, said the officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Future contributions would require the agency, which has faced heavy Israeli criticism, to demonstrate significant changes in operations, they said, adding that one suggestion under consideration would require the Palestinians to first reenter peace talks with Israel.
The State Department said Sunday that ‘‘the decision is under review. There are still deliberations taking place.’’ The White House had no immediate comment.
The plan to withhold some of the money is backed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, who offered it as a compromise to demands for more drastic measures by UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the officials said.
Haley wants a complete cutoff in US money until the Palestinians resume peace talks with Israel that have been frozen for years. But Tillerson, Mattis and others say ending all aid would exacerbate instability in the Mideast, notably in Jordan, a host to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and a crucial US strategic partner.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, railed at Trump in a fiery, two-hour speech on Sunday, saying ‘‘shame on you’’ for his treatment of the Palestinians and warning that he would have no problem rejecting what he suggested would be an unacceptable peace plan.
The speech ratcheted up what has been more than a month of harsh rhetoric toward Trump since the president’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Relations between Washington and the Palestinians have sunk to a new low, boding poorly for a peace plan the White House has promised to present.
Speaking to the Palestinian Central Council, a decision-making body, Abbas repeated the Palestinians’ opposition to Trump’s Jerusalem recognition and censured Trump for accusing the Palestinians of refusing to negotiate.
‘‘He [Trump] said in a tweet: ‘We won’t give money to the Palestinians because they rejected the negotiations,’ ’’ Abbas said. ‘‘Shame on you. When did we reject the talks?’’
The United States is the largest donor to the Palestinian refugee agency, supplying nearly 30 percent of its total budget. The agency focuses on providing health care, education, and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
Washington donated $355 million in 2016 and was set to make a similar contribution this year.
Gaza would be particularly hard hit by the refugee aid cut, along with Jordan and Lebanon. Some officials, including Israelis, warn that it might push people closer to the militant Hamas movement, which controls Gaza.
A Palestinian member of Hamas survived an attempt on his life Sunday after a bomb went off in his car in southern Lebanon, wounding him, the Lebanese military said. It was not immediately clear who carried out the bombing in the city of Sidon or why the Palestinian was targeted.
