Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah refused to welcome United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov to his office last week, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official said on Sunday.

In recent weeks, Ramallah-based Palestinian officials have criticized Mladenov over his role in efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“The EU representative asked to bring Mladenov to a meeting with Prime Minister Hamdallah last week,” Ahmad Majdalani, a PLO Executive Committee member told The Times of Israel, referring to Ralph Tarraf, the European Union’s top diplomat in Jerusalem. “The prime minister refused to receive Mladenov.”

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Tarraf and members of the European Parliament met with Hamdallah at his office in Ramallah on October 8.

An EU spokesperson said no UN representatives had planned to attend the meeting between the European officials and the PA prime minister.

The PLO Executive Committee recently decided the Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership will no longer meet with Mladenov, according to Majdalani.

“Mladenov has stepped outside of his role, which is to work on the peace process, not making peace between Hamas and Israel,” he said. “We will still work with other UN officials, but we will not meet with Mladenov or his office. The problem is specifically with him.”

A spokesman for the PA government and Mladenov’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Majdalani’s remaks.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday defended Mladenov, with his spokesperson Farhan Haq saying he “fully supports” the Mideast peace envoy’s “tireless” efforts and expressing hope that a political breakthrough will be achieved, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Mladenov, alongside Egypt, has recently played a key role in attempting to mediate a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.

Fatah and the PA have vehemently opposed any possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza. They have demanded reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas take place before any ceasefire be reached, and asserted the PLO is the sole Palestinian party that can negotiate such a deal.

Last week, Mladenov also helped to facilitate the entry of Qatari-bought fuel into Gaza.

At the time, a PA official argued the entry of the Qatari-purchased fuel into Gaza was tantamount to financial aid for Hamas.

“When Qatar pays for the fuel, Hamas in Gaza will collect the bills and put it in its pocket, and this is an indirect financial aid to Hamas,” said a PA official on October 9, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Earlier this month, a high-ranking Fatah official accused Mladenov of working on behalf of US President Donald Trump’s administration and intervening in internal Palestinian affairs. The PA has been boycotting the White House since it recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last December.

“He is a servant of the American administration,” Majed Fityani, the secretary-general of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Palestine TV, the official PA channel. “He should… not be intervening in internal affairs. It is not his right or mandate to interfere, but he puts his nose in everything.”

Fityani also contended that Mladenov is no longer an “honest broker” and said the Palestinians consider his work as UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process to be over.

“I believe that Mr. Mladenov is no longer an honest broker in this process,” he said. “As far as we are concerned as Palestinians, Mladenov’s mission has ended. He should spend the rest of his time as the envoy of the UN secretary-general on vacation with his Israeli friends or traveling at the expense of Trump or those who fund this moral and political digression, in which he has drowned.”

Hadashot TV news reported in August that “it appears Mladenov is expected to finish his job” as UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process in the near future.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon, however, said on Sunday in a phone call that he had no idea when Mladenov’s tenure as UN special coordinator would end.

Last month, Azzam al-Ahmad, a Fatah Central Committee member, also lashed out at Mladenov.

“We have expressed criticisms to Mladenov,” he told Palestine TV on September 22. “He has intervened in [matters] outside of the framework of his duties.”

Ahmad also said that he “believes Mladenov has been a supporter of Israel since he was the Bulgarian foreign minister.”

Mladenov served as Bulgarian foreign minister between January 2010 and March 2013.

Earlier this month, Mladenov’s office declined to comment on the remarks by Fityani and Ahmad.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.