UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday agreed on the importance of carrying forward the Middle East peace process and underlined their shared commitment to the two-state solution as the only viable option to sustainable peace.

In a readout of a meeting between Guterres and Abbas, Guterres' press service said the UN chief expressed his concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the funding shortfall of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees as a result of a dramatic steep cut by U.S. President Donald Trump in his country's contribution to the agency's funding.

Guterres stressed the importance of continued humanitarian and development assistance to the Palestinian people from the international community.

Abbas was at UN Headquarters in New York for a monthly debate at the Security Council over the Middle East situation.

In his speech, Abbas called for the convening of an international conference by mid-2018 that would result in the recognition of