Arab League Secretary General Nabil El Araby stressed the importance of international commitment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to enable the organization to continue providing aid to the Palestinian refugees.

In a telephone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, Araby said any decision to block UNRWA aid would be a negative sign, calling on the international community to shoulder responsibility toward the Palestinian refugees.

The Arab League chief discussed with Abbas the latest developments in the Palestinian issue and the Arab peace initiative meeting in Cairo next month.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Jordan staged protests on Sunday against the decision by UNRWA to cut its services.

The protesters claimed that UNRWA has cut its health and educational services to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

In the Gaza Strip, where nearly half of the residents rely on UNRWA services, scores of protesters gathered outside the agency’s offices, chanting slogans against the decision.

Many Palestinians suspect that UNRWA’s scaling-down of its services is part of a “conspiracy” to eliminate the refugee problem.