Geneva. The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that funding shortages are forcing it to halve food assistance in the occupied West Bank, as escalating settler violence and Israeli military operations drive humanitarian needs higher.
The UN agency has been providing food, vouchers and cash assistance to 400,000 people in the West Bank, mostly in rural areas and the south, including communities around Hebron. However, assistance will be reduced to 200,000 people from this month, it said in a statement.
“Severe movement restrictions, demolitions and widespread displacement in the West Bank have eroded Palestinian livelihoods and contributed to increased food insecurity,” WFP country director for Palestine Shaun Hughes told a Geneva press briefing.
“Right now, we should be scaling up our assistance in the West Bank, not cutting these vital lifelines.”
The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid in the West Bank, COGAT, referred a Reuters request for comment to the Israeli military, which did not immediately respond.
