UN Appeals for $462 million in Palestinian aid

The United Nations appealed for donors to raise a record sum of 462 million dollars to meet humanitarian needs in the Palestinian territories in 2008.

"In addition to continuing fatalities from direct Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 2007 saw a dramatic increase in deaths and injuries due to internal Palestinian violence," said a statement released by some 40 UN organisations and non-governmental groups operating in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

"The poverty rate stands at 57 percent and food insecurity affects 34 percent of the population," it said.

"The impact has been particularly severe in Gaza which has been effectively sealed off from the rest of the world since mid-June" by Israel after the Islamist Hamas movement violently seized power.

"Dependency on agencies such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and WFP (World Food Programme) now stands at 80 percent in Gaza, which will further increase due to the continuing closure of Gaza's external borders."

The United Nations is appealing for donor countries to raise 462 million dollars for the Palestinian territories in 2008, of which only 60 percent was raised by mid-November.