GENEVA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A UN humanitarian official on Wednesday said a total of 20 million U.S. dollars of emergency funding is needed in Gaza to help some 1,700 people who were seriously injured in recent demonstrations against Israel.

Jamie McGoldrick, UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, told a press briefing here that those victims were hurt during the Great March of Return -- weekly protests on Fridays by Gazans that began a year ago.

Saying that the health structures in Gaza really are in bad shape, the UN official said that this appeal for emergency funding will also support the local health system in a way that's currently not being supported.

According to the UN official, the average household debt in Gaza now is 4,000 U.S. dollars, and the average salaries are only 400 U.S. dollars a month.

The situation has been made worse by chronically high youth unemployment and the fact that the UN's 350 million U.S. dollars humanitarian appeal for 2019 is funded at only 14 percent, he said.