“Given the severe lack of funding, WFP is forced to make painful choices due to limited resources,” Samer Abdel Jaber, WFP director in the Palestinian territories, told Reuters.
He added: “The World Food Program will be forced to start suspending assistance to over 200,000 people, or 60% of current cases, from June.”
The decision will disproportionately affect families in Gaza, who have the highest rates of food insecurity and poverty in the Palestinian territories, as well as in the West Bank.
The UN program provides Palestinians in need with monthly vouchers worth $10.30 per person, as well as food.
The suspension decision will cover both aspects of the aid.
“The World Food Program is aware of the impact of this difficult and inevitable decision on the hundreds of thousands of people who also depend on food aid to meet their basic needs,” said Abdul Jaber.
The program will continue to help 140,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank, Abdel Jaber said, adding that the decision to suspend was made to save those most at risk of not being able to afford food.
He added that unless the WFP receives funds, it will have to suspend food and cash aid entirely by August.
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