Cairo, Dec 29 (IANS): The Arab League (AL) 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," Xinhua news agency quoted Saeed Abu Ali, AL assistant secretary-general for Palestine affairs and occupied Arab territories, as saying on Monday.

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 further result in more deterioration.

The Arab countries contribute 7.73 per cent 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 UN to fulfil their obligations and financial contributions to enable the mission to carry out its duties towards the Palestinians until a just solution to their case is reached in accordance with international legitimate resolutions.

The UNRWA provides assistance and protection for some 5.6 million registered Palestine refugees.

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, the UNRWA was established on December 8, 1949 to carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees.

The Agency began operations on May 1, 1950.

In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the UN General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until June 30, 2023.