UN cuts West Bank food aid by half as funds run short

The World Food Programme said on Tuesday that funding shortages are forcing it to cut in half its food assistance in the occupied West Bank at a time when it says escalating settler violence and Israeli military operations are driving needs higher.

The UN agency has been providing food, vouchers and cash to 400,000 in the West Bank, mostly in rural areas and the south, such as villages like Hebron, but this will be scaled back 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," Shaun Hughes, WFP Country Director for Palestine, 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 that coordinates aid in the West Bank, COGAT, referred a Reuters request for comment to the Israeli military, which did not immediately respond.

Foreign aid contributions by major Western donors, including the United States, have fallen sharply across the board since last year as they prioritise domestic spending and defence.

Violence and land and water seizures by militant Jewish settlers in the West Bank have risen during the nearly three years since the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel.

UN bodies and most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law regarding military occupations. Israel rejects this, viewing the area as disputed rather than occupied.

Hughes said that humanitarians did not use to consider the West Bank a food crisis, but more a human rights crisis, but that was now changing due to mounting pressures.

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“They now find themselves in a chokehold, unable to move freely to access land or jobs, and so unable to afford food for their families. They face incredible injustice and hardship," he said.

Other international aid groups like the UN Palestinian refugee agency also provide assistance to Palestinians in the West Bank but it was not immediately clear if they would step in. That agency also faces major financial constraints.

WFP also said funding shortfalls are affecting its operations in Gaza where it supports 1.5 million people. "Further cuts will be unavoidable unless additional funding is secured," it said.