CAIRO, 29 December, 2020, (TON): The Arab League (AL) on Monday expressed concerns over the escalated financial crisis of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the Cairo-based pan-Arab body said in a statement.

"The crisis has taken a dangerous turn in the past weeks when the UNRWA was unable to pay the salaries of its employees for December," said Saeed Abu Ali, AL assistant secretary-general for Palestine affairs and occupied Arab territories.

He warned against the inability of the agency to keep providing services for more than 5.5 million Palestinian refugees in the fields of education, health, food support and other interventions for rescuing life will cause more deterioration to the communities of Palestinian refugees in Arab countries.

The Arab countries contribute 7.73 percent of the agency's budget, according to the official.

He added that the funding of the UNRWA will be consumed in January 2021, calling on donors and the United Nations to fulfil their obligations and financial contributions to enable the UNRWA to carry out its duties towards the Palestinians until a just solution to their case is reached in accordance with international legitimate resolutions.

UNRWA provides its services to about 5.3 million Palestinian refugees and is suffering from a stifling financial crisis since the United States in January froze all its support for the agency claiming that it is not satisfied with the way the agency works which is being criticized by Israel.