RIYADH: Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Al-Khuraiji recently met the commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Philippe Lazzarini, at the ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh. During the meeting, Al-Khuraiji reviewed the Kingdom’s efforts in supporting the Palestinian people and discussed with Lazzarini ways to further strengthen cooperation between Saudi Arabia and UNRWA. In March, the agency appealed for $16.2 million to help Palestine refugees affected by the recent devastating earthquake in Syria. Part of the UN organization’s 2023 Syria-Lebanon Flash Appeal, the money was urgently required to meet the humanitarian and early recovery needs of the refugee group following the quake that rocked the north of Syria in February. On the sidelines of the 2023 Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum, the supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center met Lazzarini and discussed several issues of common concern and means of developing coordination. Lazzarini praised Saudi Arabia for its ongoing support for Palestinians and lauded the close partnership between the agency and the center.