WFP will halve West Bank food assistance as it faces possible new cuts in Gaza

The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it will halve food assistance in the Israeli-occupied West Bank due to severe funding shortages, with the cuts set to begin this month. The agency currently supports 400,000 people in the West Bank but will reduce its assistance to 200,000 individuals. In Gaza, where 1.5 million people are supported, the WFP has already reduced cash assistance by 40% for 375,000 people in July, warning that further cuts will be necessary unless it secures additional funding.

The WFP urgently requires $386 million over the next six months to assist 2 million food-insecure people in both the West Bank and Gaza. Despite the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reporting that conditions in Gaza had improved since famine was declared last year, the WFP cautioned that funding shortages and donor fatigue could lead to deeper reductions in Gaza and urged for more than $420 million to sustain operations through the end of the year.

In the West Bank, the agency estimates that 900,000 people are currently food insecure, with increased violence, displacement, and economic deterioration exacerbating hunger and disrupting livelihoods.

Brief written by urgent.news from Associated Press's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.