UN appeals for $2.8 billion help for Palestinians

Andrea De Domenico, Head of the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories said that the United Nations (UN) will launch a $2.8 billion appeal to help Palestinians in Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

“With the entire humanitarian community, we will appeal for $2.8 billion to support the three million people identified across the West Bank and Gaza,” he said on Wednesday in a video press conference.

He said that the original request was for $4 billion “but considering the limited ability to deliver and the space that we have to do so, we have really focused on the highest priority.”

Days after the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, the United Nations launched an initial emergency appeal for $294 million.

That appeal was modified in early November and raised to $1.2 billion to meet the most urgent needs of 2.7 million people in the Palestinian territories, including 2.2 million in Gaza and 500,000 people in the West Bank by the end of 2023.

Aid trucks

Out of 5,000 aid trucks sent to Gaza in the last month, more than 99.5 per cent were cleared for entry after inspection by Israeli authorities.

“This is Israel’s role in the aid operation - we inspect the aid to make sure it isn’t carrying items that can be used by Hamas for terrorism, and we do it efficiently,” said the agency.

COGAT added that 126 aid trucks were transferred to northern Gaza and that two bakeries are operational in northern Gaza following coordination, supplying over 800,000 pita breads for the local population.

Also, 72 pallets containing tens of thousands of packages of aid were airdropped into northern Gaza Monday, April 15. In addition, 4 tankers of cooking gas and 3 tankers of fuel designated for the operation of essential infrastructure in Gaza and 9 trucks with medical aid were transferred to the Emirati Field Hospital in Gaza on Sunday too.

And 3,204 injured and sick individuals together with 725 escorts have been evacuated from the strip since the fighting began.