UN appeals for $4b in Gaza, West Bank aid

Israeli strikes kill five in Lebanon

GENEVA/BEIRUT:

The UN on Wednesday appealed for $4.07 billion to provide desperately needed aid in war-ravaged Gaza and the West Bank next year, saying that the actual amount needed was far higher.

The aim will be to provide assistance to "the entire population of Gaza, estimated at 2.1 million people, and 900,000 people in the West Bank," the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in its appeal.

It said that the actual needs amounted to "at least $6.6 billion", but suggested that Israeli constraints placed on aid delivery meant it would be difficult to scale up operations to that level.

"To be able to implement the full scale of what is urgently needed, Israel must take immediate and effective measures to ensure the essential needs of civilians are met," the appeal said.

"Humanitarian actors anticipate being limited in what they can achieve in 2025 due to severe restrictions... and ever greater challenges to their ability to operate, including intensified and coordinated anti-UN rhetoric strategically aimed at delegitimizing humanitarian efforts," the appeal said.

If all sides fully complied with international law, OCHA said it would be possible to deliver aid to the tune of $6.6 billion.

But "assuming humanitarian actors will continue to face a constrained operating environment, the 2025 OPT Flash Appeal calls for $4 billion of this amount", it said.

That, it said, meant that aid would reach three million people, rather than the 3.3 million in dire need.

Stressing that "the speed and scale of the killing and destruction in the Gaza Strip are unlike anything seen in recent history", OCHA cautioned that "without sustained solutions to end the violence, humanitarian needs will continue to rise".

It called among other things for safe and sustained access to all people in need across the occupied Palestinian territories, enabling the entry into Gaza of humanitarian goods at scale.

"Beyond peace, genuine efforts to enable humanitarian assistance will require critical changes in the operating environment," it said.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed five people in the south on Wednesday, amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah after two months of all-out war. The Lebanese army said it deployed troops around Khiam, a key town just five kilometres (three miles) from the border that saw heavy fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

"An Israeli enemy drone strike on the town of Ainata killed one person and wounded another," the health ministry said.

An "Israeli strike on the town of Bint Jbeil killed three people," while a third "on Beit Lif killed one person".

Israel stepped up its campaign in south Lebanon in late September after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges begun by Hezbollah in support of Hamas following its Palestinian ally's October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

A ceasefire came into effect on November 27. Both sides have accused the other of repeated violations.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Lebanese army is to deploy in the south alongside UN peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdraws over a period of 60 days.

Hezbollah is required to withdraw its forces north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in the south.