The head of the U.N. agency that helps 5.3 million Palestinian refugees is urging donors who filled a $446 million hole in its budget last year after the Trump administration drastically cut the U.S. contribution to be equally generous this year.

Pierre Krahenbuhl said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that "last year we had an extraordinary crisis and an out of the ordinary response."

He said he has been thanking donors for their "exceptional" support that enabled the U.N. Relief and Works Agency to fund its entire 2018 budget of $1.2 billion.

Krahenbuhl said the agency also adopted a $1.2 billion budget for 2019, only this year the United States eliminated the $60 million it gave the agency last year, so it is getting nothing.