The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) top official for refugee affairs has met with a French diplomat to discuss the financial challenges facing the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, Al Jazeera reports, citing Wafa.

Ahmed Abu Houli, the head of the PLO’s Refugee Affairs Department, met French Deputy Consul Quentin Lopinot on Saturday to discuss UNRWA’s difficulties amid a funding freeze by more than a dozen countries, Wafa said.

“The presence of UNRWA and the continuation of its services in its areas of operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, constitute a factor of stability in the region and a lifeline for Palestinian refugees who depend mainly on its services and food and cash assistance,” Wafa quoted Abu Houli as saying.

Lopinot said his country continued to support UNRWA and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, according to Wafa.

France is one of at least 16 countries that suspended funding to UNRWA following Israeli allegations that some of the agency’s staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.