The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Thursday that it is seeking to raise $481 million for the Gaza Strip due to the “unprecedented devastation” there, the growing needs in the occupied West Bank, and a possible mass exodus of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, said: “A month into a tight siege and a brutal war, the humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip are enormous. "It increases by the hour."

UNRWA said in a statement that the funds will be used to provide basic food aid, shelter, water and sanitation to 1.6 million people in Gaza and provide health care and protection to those living in the occupied West Bank.

It also stated that funding is necessary for Lebanon “in anticipation of a possible mass exodus of Palestinian refugees, specifically in the Sidon and Tyre regions in the southern part of the country.”

The United Nations said that tens of thousands have already been displaced as a result of clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border, which have escalated since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

The new appeal follows a previous appeal announced by the United Nations last week to raise $1.2 billion.

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on Gaza rose to 10,818 martyrs, including 4,412 children, 2,918 women, 667 elderly people, and 26,905 citizens injured since October 7, according to the Ministry of Health.