02 January,2009 11:26 AM IST | | PTI
A United Nations agency has appealed to international donors for USD 34 million to provide humanitarian aid to 1.5 million people in Gaza Strip in the wake of the Israeli military operations in the region.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees, will use make use of the fund to provide food, shelter, medical supplies, fuel and cash assistance for a period of four months.
The latest appeal for USD 34 million is in addition to the USD 275 million UNRWA sought in the 2009 Emergency Appeal issued in December for the occupied Palestinian territory.
"In my eight years in UNRWA, the urgency of an appeal for the people here has never been so acute," UNRWA Commissioner General Karen AbuZayd said.
"I am appalled and saddened when I see the suffering around me. I call on the international community to respond with the promptness and generosity demanded by the desperate situation in Gaza today," she said.
Essential humanitarian supplies were already in short supply in the Hamas-ruled Gaza before the military operations began as Israel kept border crossings into the area closed in rocket.
Although it is difficult to get reliable figures on casualties, the UN estimates that between 320 and 380 people have died in the operation and between 1,500 and 1,900 have been wounded. In addition, four Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets
