Gaza Hospitals unable to feed their own patients, elective surgeries postponed for years – those are just a few examples of what the UN’s Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Jamie McGoldrick, describes as a “collapsing system in freefall”.

On Monday, he issued an appeal as part of the Humanitarian Response Plan for next year, for $350 million, to help 1.4 million people in the most need, across the occupied Palestinian territories, chiefly the the Gaza Strip.

Our UN News Arabic chief, Reem Abaza, was in Gaza with Mr. McGoldrick several weeks ago, and after they had visited the main hospital there together, she asked him to outline the extent of Gaza’s plight.