GENEVA, Friday, November 3, 2023 (WAFA) - The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the costs of meeting the needs of the entire population of Gaza and people in the West Bank until the end of the year are estimated to be $1.2 billion.

“The costs of meeting the needs of the entire population of Gaza and 500,000 people in the West Bank until the end of the year are estimated to be $1.2 billion,” OCHA said while stressing that that humanitarian assistance is not enough to sustain a population of 2.2 million people.

"For civilians across Gaza to get access to adequate food, water, medical care and other essential supplies, we must be able to scale up deliveries of all these goods, and we must be able to replenish fuel supplies," said OCHA in a statement.

OCHA pledged to do its part to ensure these deliveries increase and continue. “But in no crisis does the humanitarian community work alone. The private sector, and the NGOs, must be protected. And it will also be important to open other crossings for these purposes.”

The agreement to use the Rafah crossing from Egypt to get essential humanitarian supplies into Gaza has provided little relief to people living in these appalling conditions, said the statement.

And while OCHA said it welcomes this important development, these deliveries, which are the result of extensive negotiations, cannot cover the significant rise in humanitarian needs. And most crucially, these recent deliveries do not include fuel – fuel that is essential for powering the services that people need for survival, it added.

T.R.