WFP warns aid cuts deprive 200,000 Palestinians of food assistance

NEW YORK, Sept. 02 (YPA) – The World Food Programme (WFP) announced that funding shortages have forced a 50 percent cut to household assistance in the West Bank, suspending support for approximately 200,000 Palestinians as needs have doubled over the past two years.

Sion Hughes, WFP Country Director in Palestine, stated that escalating Zionist settler violence, Israeli occupation military operations, an economic crisis, and rising unemployment have exacerbated food insecurity, leaving one-third of the West Bank population struggling to meet basic needs.

In the Gaza Strip, the WFP reduced cash assistance for roughly 75,000 families in July. The agency warned that up to 90 percent of Gaza’s population could face high levels of acute food insecurity by year-end without sustained humanitarian assistance.

Separately, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a potential public health crisis in Gaza this winter due to water contamination and collapsing sanitation services. Acute watery diarrhea cases surged from nearly 30,000 in March to over 58,000 in August.

The WHO noted that more than 6,600 individuals require long-term care following limb amputations, yet only 12 percent of those injured since October 2023 received prosthetics by July. The agency urged accelerated delivery of medical supplies, laboratory equipment, and prosthetics, alongside improved clean water access and waste management.

YPA