Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that funding shortages will leave about 200,000 people in the occupied West Bank without access to critical food assistance from the start of this month, according to Shaun Hughes, WFP country director for Palestine.
Mr. Hughes highlighted intensified settler violence, Israeli military operations, severe movement restrictions, demolitions, and widespread displacement as factors worsening food insecurity and eroding Palestinian livelihoods. Nearly one million people in the West Bank—over a quarter of the population—are now food insecure, up from 11 percent two years ago.
He described how families who previously relied on their land are now displaced, with destroyed livelihoods and restricted movement further limiting access to land, jobs, and food. The cash transfers provided by WFP—about 50 shekels (under $20) per person monthly—have acted as a lifeline, but these will now be cut due to funding shortfalls.
In the Gaza Strip, WFP reduced cash assistance to 75,000 families in July. Although recent reports indicate slight improvements in food security, two-thirds of Gaza’s population still face critical and emergency hunger. Mr. Hughes warned that without sustained humanitarian aid, up to 90 percent of Gaza’s population may face acute food insecurity by year-end.
WFP says it needs $386 million to prevent further reductions in assistance for both Gaza and the West Bank over the next six months, calling for continued international support despite competing global crises and changing fiscal priorities.