GENEVA (Reuters) -The United Nations on Monday slashed its aid appeal to donors by over a third, saying it was now seeking $29 billion to support 114 million people amid what it described as the deepest funding cuts ever.

The U.N. human rights chief says Israel’s warfare in Gaza is inflicting “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” on Palestinians and has urged government leaders to “wake up” and exert pressure on Israel’s government and Hamas to end it.

Israeli fire killed at least 40 people, half of them near an aid distribution site operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Monday, the territory's health ministry said, as U.N. officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will make major reductions in staff numbers due to an acute shortage of funds, the global aid organization said on Monday. Almost 50% of senior positions at the headquarters in Geneva and the regional offices have been cut - a total of 3,

The UN refugee agency said Monday it will cut 3,500 staff jobs -- slashing nearly a third of its workforce costs -- due to a funding shortfall, and reduce the scale of its help worldwide.UNHCR carried out a review of its activities,

The third U.N. Ocean Conference in France last week yielded a number of financial deals and money pledges to help protect the seas, although the gap between funding and the estimated annual need of $175 billion remains large.

Since conflict erupted in Sudan, more than a million people have fled to neighbouring South Sudan, seeking refuge from escalating violence that has displaced 12.4 million people and plunged over half the Sudanese population into food insecurity.

French President Emmanuel Macron says a top-level U.N. conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians scheduled for next week has been postponed.

During the launch ceremony the previous day, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to rapidly strengthen the country's navy by building two destroyers per year to deter aggression, with the third and fourth ships of the new Choe Hyon class planned for 2026.

"I urge the authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly and to uphold human rights in law enforcement, including by refraining from any resort to military force when civilian authorities are capable of maintaining public order," Volker Turk told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva in a broad opening speech.