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Half West Bank aid cut
The United Nations World Food Programme said it is halving food assistance in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because of severe funding shortfalls, reducing support from 400,000 people to 200,000 starting this month.
“Funding shortfall forces the World Food Programme to cut food assistance by half in the West Bank”
The WFP said the cut comes as it estimates 900,000 people are food insecure in the West Bank, with rising settler violence and displacement disrupting livelihoods and deepening hunger.
WFP Country Director Shaun Hughes told a Geneva press briefing that “Food may be available in the markets, but people simply cannot afford it,” describing the crisis as funding and economic pressures squeeze households.
The WFP said it urgently needs an additional $386 million for the next six months to serve an estimated two million people in Gaza and the West Bank, warning that the funding shortfall threatens an already fragile situation.
Hughes links cuts to restrictions
Shaun Hughes said the West Bank aid reduction is happening despite what he described as worsening conditions, telling a Geneva press briefing that “Severe movement restrictions, demolitions, and widespread displacement in the West Bank have deteriorated Palestinians’ livelihoods and contributed to rising food insecurity.”
The New Arab reported that the WFP said it had been providing food, vouchers, and cash to 400,000 people in the West Bank, mostly in rural areas and the south such as villages in the Hebron area, before scaling back to 200,000 starting this month.
The AP reported that the WFP warned it may be forced to make further cuts in Gaza, where it assists 1.5 million people, after reducing the value of cash assistance by 40% for 375,000 people in July.
In the same AP account, the WFP said it is forced to prioritize the most vulnerable households while cutting aid to others, despite widespread need across the West Bank.
What’s at stake next
The WFP said its West Bank assistance includes cash and vouchers, food items, livelihood programs, and nutritional services, but that a lack of funding has forced it to pull back on that support.
“Unemployment now stands at 30% after Israel closed its gates”
Health Policy Watch said the number of people affected by food insecurity in the West Bank has doubled to almost one million over the past two years, and that unemployment now stands at 30% after Israel closed its gates to most Palestinian workers following the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led massacre in Israel.
The WFP warned that without sustained humanitarian aid, the UN-linked Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) forecasts that high levels of acute food insecurity will affect up to 90% of the population in Gaza by the end of the year.
Against that backdrop, the WFP said it needs additional funding to continue operations across both territories, stating that “Further cuts will be unavoidable unless additional funding is secured,” while it targets an estimated two million food insecure people across Gaza and the West Bank over the next six months.