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According to Reuters, Samer Abdeljaber, a senior official of the World Food Program (WFP) in the Palestinian territories, announced on Sunday that the organization will halt food assistance to more than 200,000 Palestinians starting next month due to a severe shortage of funds.
Abdeljaber stated that WFP will be forced to suspend aid to over 200,000 individuals, which accounts for 60 percent of its current beneficiaries, beginning in June.
The most affected families reside in Gaza, where food insecurity and poverty levels are alarmingly high, as well as in the West Bank.
The WFP, a United Nations agency, provides impoverished Palestinians with monthly vouchers worth $10.30 per person and food baskets. Both programs will be impacted by the suspension.
Gaza, governed by the Islamist Hamas group since 2007, is home to 2.3 million people, with a staggering 45 percent unemployment rate and 80 percent dependence on international aid, according to Palestinian and UN records.
Abdeljaber acknowledged the significant implications of this difficult decision on hundreds of thousands of individuals who rely on food assistance for their basic needs.
The Israeli entity, in conjunction with Egypt, has enforced a longstanding blockade that restricts the movement of people and goods.
Abdeljaber assured that WFP will continue providing aid to 140,000 individuals in besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank, emphasizing that the decision to suspend assistance was made to prioritize those at the highest risk of food insecurity.
Unless funding is secured, WFP will be compelled to completely suspend food and cash assistance by August.
In response to the announcement, dozens of Palestinians staged a protest outside the WFP offices in Gaza City, chanting "No to Hunger."
Faraj Al-Masri, a father of two whose family receives monthly vouchers worth $41.20, expressed that the vouchers are their lifeline, and the decision to suspend assistance feels like a death sentence since they have no other source of income.
Jamalat El-Dabour, residing in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, shared that her family, receiving $164.80 worth of vouchers per month, fears they will "starve to death" as her husband is ill and unemployed.