UN food agency cuts aid to Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank amid fund crunch

The United Nations has cut food assistance to 5,00,000 Palestinians in Gaza and 2,00,000 in the West Bank due to a serious funding shortage, the head of the UN food agency said.

Carl Skau, acting head of the World Food Program, on Monday urged the international community to provide USD 450 million so the agency could restore the cut assistance and provide hot meals and food parcels in Gaza and the West Bank for the next six months.

Because of the money shortage, the number of people receiving assistance was reduced this month from 1.6 million to 1.1 million in Gaza and from 4,00,000 to 2,00,000 in the West Bank, he said.

Skau, who had just visited both territories, told UN correspondents in a video briefing from Jerusalem that life in Gaza remains "absolutely brutal" and incredibly dangerous, with UN teams recording about 50 attacks per day in the past week.

Nonetheless, he said that since last October's ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, "we have been able to push back on famine"