UN appeals for Palestinian funds

Travel restrictions on Palestinians hamper the economy

The United Nations has launched an appeal to raise $450m (£229m) in humanitarian relief funds for the Palestinian territories next year.

Two-thirds of Palestinians live in poverty, a UN spokesman said.

The Palestinian economy has been in crisis since international sanctions were imposed on the Hamas-led government earlier this year.

The UN says growing numbers of people in the West Bank and Gaza are not able to meet their daily food needs.

It is the largest appeal the UN has launched to help the Palestinians and follows the $384m wanted for 2006.

The United States, Israel and the European Union imposed sanctions on the Hamas-led administration because of its refusal to recognise Israel's right to exist and to renounce violence.

Increasing tensions

The UN appeal "is particularly aimed at assisting the most vulnerable Palestinians, including children, who make up about half of the population," said Kevin Kennedy, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator in the Palestinian territories.

"Aid agencies report that basic services such as health care and education are deteriorating and set to worsen much further."

Unemployment has reached 40% in the Gaza Strip and 25% in the West Bank, according to UN figures quoted by Mr Kennedy.

The deteriorating economic situation in Gaza and the West Bank has led to a breakdown in law and order, says the BBC's correspondent in Jerusalem, Katya Adler.

Tensions are made even worse by the severe travel restrictions imposed by Israel on the Palestinians, says our correspondent.