AMMAN, December 12, 2006, (WAFA)- UNRWA appealed Tuesday for $246m in emergency funds to address deplorable humanitarian conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

"To meet the most basic needs of Palestine refugees - over 40 percent of the population in the OPT - UNRWA is appealing for $246m in emergency funding in 2007," UNRWA said in a press release.

UNRWA said that interventions will provide social safety net support to increasing numbers of needy refugees, in the form of food aid, job creation and emergency cash assistance, and respond to considerably increased demand on health services.

"Unbearable economic pressure has been applied to a people under occupation. Those who have clearly paid the greatest price are the vulnerable - the poor, the sick, the elderly, the children", said UNRWA's Deputy Commissioner- General Filippo Grandi as the Agency.

The majority of Palestinians are now dependent on food and cash handouts. Violence, poverty and despair are overtaking hopes for recovery and prospects for development.

"Refugees, who before 2006 endured high poverty rates and desperate socio- economic conditions, have been particularly affected, due to their disproportionate dependence on PA salaries and concentration in Gaza," it said.

It asserted that every aspect of life has been affected. The crisis that began in September 2000 has deepened dramatically during 2006, as a result of the international isolation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), the conditions of siege imposed on Gaza and the ongoing fragmentation of the West Bank.

S.A.S. (13:40 P) (11:40 GMT)