Photo courtesy of Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt's support for the UNRWA and its mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees, according to the foreign ministry.
The minister described the agency's role as essential and reiterated Egypt's opposition to any displacement of Palestinians from their land.
Abdelatty also criticized Israeli measures affecting UNRWA's operations, including restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and supplies into Gaza, saying such steps undermine the agency's ability to carry out its work.
Such aid restrictions are direct violations of the October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Cairo, Doha, Ankara, and Washington.
The meeting included discussions on the future of UNRWA's operations and the challenges facing the agency across its areas of operation, with particular focus on Gaza, where humanitarian conditions have continued to deteriorate amid the ongoing war.
Saunders briefed Abdelatty on plans for institutional reform within the agency and efforts to strengthen its developmental programmes while maintaining its humanitarian activities.
Since the outbreak of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 72,956 Palestinians in the strip, 1,000 of them in despite the October ceasefire, and wounded over 173,000, most of them women and children.
UNRWA provides education, healthcare, social services, and emergency assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The agency has repeatedly warned that funding shortages and access restrictions are hampering its ability to respond to growing humanitarian needs, particularly in Gaza.
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