The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced Tuesday that it will cut by half the number of people receiving food assistance in the occupied West Bank due to severe funding shortages, even as food insecurity has more than doubled since 2023.

The agency said it currently provides assistance to around 400,000 of the most vulnerable people in the West Bank. Beginning this month, however, that figure will be reduced to approximately 200,000 as funding constraints force the organization to scale back its operations.

An estimated 900,000 people are now food insecure across the West Bank, according to WFP. The agency attributed the deteriorating situation to increased settler violence, displacement and disruptions to livelihoods, which have pushed more Palestinian families deeper into food insecurity.

WFP’s latest quarterly food security analysis found that 76 percent of households in the West Bank have experienced a significant decline in income. Meanwhile, food and fuel prices remain among the highest in the Middle East, forcing families to sell assets and reduce both the quantity and quality of their meals.

The assessment also found that 12 percent of people have poor food consumption, while about one-third of families are unable to afford a nutritious diet amid the rapidly deteriorating economic situation.

Rural communities and residents of the southern West Bank governorates were identified as among the groups hardest hit by the crisis.

“Families who were once thriving and earning a living from their land are now unable to afford enough food,” said Shaun Hughes, WFP Country Director for Palestine.

Hughes warned that the agency was being forced to make difficult decisions at a time when humanitarian needs were growing.

“At a time when WFP should be scaling up assistance to reach more people, we are being forced to make difficult decisions, prioritizing the most vulnerable while cutting assistance to others despite widespread needs,” he said, urging the international community to increase support for Palestinians.

Funding Shortfall Also Hits Gaza

WFP said the funding crisis is also affecting its operations in Gaza, where the agency currently supports approximately 1.5 million people, including around one million who receive food assistance every month.

In July, WFP reduced the cash value of assistance provided to 375,000 people by 40 percent. The agency warned that further reductions will be unavoidable unless additional funding is secured.

In the West Bank, WFP and its partners have been providing assistance through cash and vouchers, food distributions, livelihood programs and nutritional services. The funding shortfall is now forcing the agency to scale back these programs despite continued and growing humanitarian needs.

WFP said it urgently requires an additional $386 million over the six months from September 2026 to assist an estimated two million food-insecure people across Gaza and the West Bank.

The agency warned that without additional funding, its ability to respond to worsening hunger and economic hardship in the Palestinian territories will remain severely constrained. (ILKHA)