With unemployment in Gaza standing at 54 per cent, young people there are living “a daily existence in a nightmarish scenario”, according to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory.

Jamie McGoldrick said Palestinian youth gaze across the Mediterranean at the lives of their European counterparts and wonder why they too cannot have a job, or buy a car, or afford to go on holiday.

Mr. McGoldrick was in New York this week and spoke to May Yaacoub about challenges facing UNRWA, the UN agency that assists the Palestinian people, which continues to face a staggering $200 million funding shortfall.

He began by addressing recent developments at the agency, whose chief resigned this month pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged misconduct.