The cash-strapped UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday it needs at least 100 million dollars this year to continue its services for millions of refugees in the Middle East.

"The fundings are insufficient to meet our needs to continue our services," UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi, who was appointed in January, told reporters in Amman.

"So in addition to what donors have told us... we need approximately 50 million dollars more to meet the needs of 2010, the minimum needs," he said.

"I am making a strong appeal to the donors to give us more than this to invest in... all the things that any public service requires to function properly, and that means at least another 50 million dollars if not more."

Grandi said that UNRWA has also appealed to donors for an additional 350 million dollars to cover emergency situations such as "more humanitarian assistance, food, cash, and job creation."

UN sources told AFP that UNRWA's budget for 2010 is estimated at 620 million dollars with a projected deficit of 140 million dollars.

The United States said on Thursday it has given an initial 40 million dollars this year to UNRWA, which cares for 4.7 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, to support its services in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.