UN appeals for $547m in aid for Palestinians

The United Nations called for donations of $547 million to help meet the urgent needs of Palestinian refugees in the occupied East Jerusalem and parts of occupied West Bank which are under full Israeli control, Quds Press reported yesterday.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the funds would be allocated to Palestinians whose homes were demolished by the Israeli occupation during 2016, in addition to providing for the humanitarian needs of others.

The Israeli occupation demolished 1,089 Palestinian homes and other facilities in 2016, displacing 1,593 Palestinian citizens, the paper said.

UN data showed that 1.8 million of the 4.8 million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are in urgent need of aid due to the Israeli policies.

It also showed that 1.6 million suffer from a lack of food and 50,000 in Gaza are currently without homes due to Israel’s devastating war on the enclave in 2014, while 8,000 others in the occupied West Bank are facing the danger of displacement due to the Israeli policies.

The Israeli occupation demolished scores of Palestinian homes and facilities built with support from the UN.