CAIRO, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Abul Gheit stressed on Monday his full support for the operation of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
He urged all countries to continue supporting the UNRWA, especially in the UN vote in November on the renewal of UNRWA's mandate.
Abul Gheit's remarks came during his meeting with Commissioner General the UNRWA Pierre Krahenbuhl.
The talks tackled the UNRWA's efforts to continue supporting millions of Palestinian refugees in view of the unprecedented pressure on the organization, official news agency MENA said.
The UNRWA provides services to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza, mostly of whom are descendants of some 700,000 Palestinians who were driven out of their homes or fled fighting in the 1948 war that led to the establishment of Israel.
Last year, the United States, UNRWA's biggest donor, said it was halting its aid of 360 million U.S. dollars per year to what it called "an irredeemably flawed operation."
In May, U.S. Middle East Envoy Jason Greenblatt told the UN Security Council that the UNRWA should be effectively dismantled. UNRWA's mandate, which has been repeatedly renewed by the UN General Assembly, runs until June 30, 2020.
The 74th session of the UN General Assembly in September is expected to decide whether to renew the UNRWA's mandate.
