United Nations asks for billions for Gaza aid operations

DPA
·1 min read
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Palestinians children queue with water containers to fill them with drinking water. Palestinians are suffering from obtaining clean water due to the destruction of water wells during the battles between Israel and Hamas. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
Palestinians children queue with water containers to fill them with drinking water. Palestinians are suffering from obtaining clean water due to the destruction of water wells during the battles between Israel and Hamas. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said it needs billions of dollars this year to help the suffering population of the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Donor countries are being asked to provide an additional $2.8 billion for 3.3 million people by the end of the year, OCHA announced in Geneva on Wednesday.

Most of the money, around $2.5 billion, is earmarked for the Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip.

The total requirement is actually even higher, around $4 billion, but the experts estimate that it will not be possible to implement all the necessary programmes in the coming months under the current conditions.

Experts say there is a threat of famine in parts of the Gaza Strip, especially in the north.

A Palestinian inspects a house belonging to the Abu Al-Hinud family, after an Israeli air strike, which resulted in eight deaths and a number of injuries. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
A Palestinian inspects a house belonging to the Abu Al-Hinud family, after an Israeli air strike, which resulted in eight deaths and a number of injuries. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa