On Saturday, World Humanitarian Day, Hastings paid tribute in a statement to those who collaborate and help in several parts of the world.

In the Palestinian territories thousands are involved in the effort to try to help their inhabitants, NGOs may be the most obvious, but they work in partnership with volunteers, municipal employees, doctors and nurses, to name just a few, she wrote.

Humanitarian activists work together to help 1.6 million of the most vulnerable Palestinians, she stressed.

They provide trauma care, deliver food, ensure access to clean water, housing, education, health, nutrition and protection, Hasting added.

During operations and escalations of violence, volunteers work to ensure a constant supply of safe drinking water, while others extinguish fires or clear rubble, clearing roads for rescue units to enter buildings on the brink of collapse, she further described.

In this regard, the UN official noted that in the first seven months of 2023, 77 health workers were injured and 30 ambulances damaged.

In high-risk areas of the West Bank, partners accompany farmers and herders, providing them with security, enabling them to maintain their livelihoods and food security, she said, referring to assaults by Israeli settlers.

mh/ro/rob