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GAZA, March 14-- The Palestinian government and the United Nations launched on Wednesday a 539.7-million-U.S. dollars appeal to address the urgent humanitarian needs of 1.9 million Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory in 2018. In a statement, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2018 was launched by Palestinian Minister of Social Development Ibrahim al-Shaer, and UN's Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick. "If funding is secured, humanitarian actors will be able to enhance the protection of Palestinians living under military occupation, improve vulnerable people's access to basic services, and support the ability of Palestinians to cope with and overcome crises," the statement said. For his part, Minister al-Shaer said lack of funding in recent years has led to unfortunate reductions in humanitarian relief for Palestinians in acute need across Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem. "We have also seen regrettable attempts to politicize aid work," he revealed. McGoldrick, meanwhile, said this year's humanitarian plan was prepared as part of a three-year strategy. "This approach enhances connections with other strategies, including those related to development efforts, while increased respect for international law and longer-term solutions are pursued," he said. The 2018 plan consists of 240 projects to be implemented by 99 organizations, including 51 national and 35 international NGOs, and 13 UN agencies. | 
