The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said it needs billions of dollars this year to help the suffering population of the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Donor countries are being asked to provide an additional $2.8 billion for 3.3 million people by the end of the year, OCHA announced in Geneva on Wednesday.

Most of the money, around $2.5 billion, is earmarked for the Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip.

The total requirement is actually even higher, around $4 billion, but the experts estimate that it will not be possible to implement all the necessary programmes in the coming months under the current conditions.

Experts say there is a threat of famine in parts of the Gaza Strip, especially in the north.