Introduction

This is the first update of the Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), originally published on 12 October 2023. It identifies a financial requirement of approximately US$1.2 billion to meet critical needs for 2.7 million people across the OPT, the 2.2 million population of the Gaza Strip and 500,000 from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem from October – 31 December 2023. It outlines the minimum to prevent further loss of life considering the ongoing siege and bombardment of Gaza and the escalating situation in the West Bank. UNRWA’s requirements
are included.

For humanitarian actors to implement this plan the following operational conditions must change:

• Humanitarian actors must have safe and sustained access to all people in need, across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Sufficient quantities of fuel must be made available for humanitarian operations.
• The flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza must drastically increase.
• Funding must be timely and flexible to allow humanitarian actors to adapt programming to a highly dynamic context.

The magnitude of this response and operational constraints are beyond what has been seen before in the OPT and in other contexts. Coupled with typical lag times between commitment and receipt and expenditure of funds means we do not expect to see full implementation of the plan by the end of 2023.

Outstanding response priorities will be rolled into the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan or appeal extension.

For Gaza, the appeal replaces the 2023 HRP as regular emergency programming cannot continue, and the situation requires new operational frameworks and modalities. For the West Bank, the appeal complements the plans outlined in the 2023 HRP.