The United Nations appealed on Wednesday for $2.8 billion in funding to assist more than three million people in Gaza and the West Bank until the end of the year, to help ease food shortages and prevent looming famine in Gaza.

A flash appeal published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that sum was needed to help 3.1 million people and "reduce human suffering and prevent further loss of life," Reuters reported. 

A major chunk of funding - $782.1 million - will be destined for food aid for 2.2 million people in Gaza and 400,000 people in the West Bank, the appeal said.

A senior UN aid official said on Tuesday that the United Nations was struggling to prevent famine in the Gaza Strip.