The UN said Thursday that funding shortfalls are forcing humanitarian partners in the Gaza Strip to reduce or suspend critical services, warning that aid operations are becoming increasingly difficult as needs remain immense, Anadolu reports.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric warned at a news conference that “funding shortfalls are forcing humanitarian partners in Gaza to scale down or suspend critical services.”
He said that nearly halfway through the year, “the $4.1 billion requirement identified in the annual appeal for Gaza and the West Bank remains less than 15% funded.”
“As a result, humanitarian partners’ ability to plan, pre-position relief and respond effectively is weakening at a time when most of Gaza’s 2.1 million people remain displaced and heavily rely on our services,” added Dujarric.
He cited growing concerns about access to drinking water, saying that by the end of May, four humanitarian partners had begun phasing out water trucking operations, putting “more than 330,000 people across some 250 sites at risk of losing their primary source of drinking water.”
Dujarric also noted that the number of meals distributed in Gaza has dropped sharply, saying that “as of last week, over 20 partners were providing 678,000 meals every day, down from 1.5 million in mid-March.”
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“More services will be suspended without further funding. We call upon donors to urgently increase their support. Member states are equally urged to press for the lifting of Israeli restrictions that continue to impede aid work on the ground,” he said.
Turning to the occupied West Bank, Dujarric said 27 Palestinian herding families, with 125 people, were recently forced to leave their community near the Ein Fera’a water spring in Hebron, following harassment and intimidation by Israeli occupiers.
OCHA said that Ein Fera’a is home to one of the largest natural water springs in the western Hebron governorate and serves as the sole water source for the local herding community.
He said it was the 46th Palestinian community to be fully displaced since January 2023 due to Israeli occupier violence and related access restrictions, adding that more than 6,000 Palestinians have been displaced under the circumstances during that period.
Israel’s two-year genocide in Gaza since October 2023 has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians and injured more than 173,000, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian figures.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect Oct. 10, 2025, the Israeli army has killed 936 Palestinians and injured 2,903 in near-daily attacks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
