The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has issued a flash appeal urgently asking for donations to its core budget so it can provide urgently needed critical humanitarian aid to Gaza as Israel's military bombardment on Hamas targets continues.
UNRWA said that after a heavy escalation in conflict in Gaza it is seeking to secure $104 million in funding to provide "immediate" health care, shelter, food and other non-food essentials to up to 250,000 people in need.
SEE MORE: Hospitals in Gaza are about to buckle under new strain
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said, "What is unfolding is already an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy. Whatever the circumstances are, rules apply in times of conflict and this one is no exception. Aid to civilians who have nowhere to flee must be immediate: water, food, medicine."
As Scripps News reported, hospitals in Gaza have been struggling to maintain critical supplies, and generators were running out of fuel.
Doctors Without Borders said that at the two hospitals it runs in Gaza, staff had no choice but to use a three-week supply of emergency stock in just three days. At one point, at least 50 people were waiting in line at a hospital to be admitted to an operating room.
Doctors Without Borders has called on all parties in the conflict to "ensure the safety of civilians and medical facilities," calling the scene in Gaza "catastrophic."
"You have to wake up your children in the middle of the night and leave your house, without taking any of your belongings, to find safety. But very often, people don't know where to go. They find themselves outside in the middle of the night, under a hail of bombs. Where can they find safety?" the organization said.
Doctors Without Borders is asking for donations to aid in its relief efforts in Gaza.
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