UN to launch $2.8b global appeal for Gaza, West Bank

The United Nations on Wednesday will launch a $2.8 billion appeal for donations this year to help the war-ravaged population of the Gaza Strip as well as West Bank Palestinians, a senior agency official said.

The "flash appeal" addresses humanitarian funding needs through the end of 2024, according to Andrea De Domenico, head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territories.

"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 Tuesday in a video press conference.

"Of course 90 percent of it is for Gaza," De Domenico added.

He noted that "the original request was for $4 billion but considering the limited ability to deliver (aid) and the space that we have to do so we have really focused on the highest priority."

Days after the unprecedented Israeli offensive in Gaza 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 2.2 million people in Gaza and another 500,000 in the West Bank in 2023.

The United Nations has warned that thousands of Gazans face famine, particularly in the north of the territory where distribution of food and aid has been limited.