The UN food program was suspended due to a lack of funds | Pro IQRA News

World Food Program (WFP) Country Director Samar Abdul Jaber said that due to severe funding shortages, WFP had to make the painful decision to limit its resources in Palestine.

“Due to serious funding shortfalls, aid will begin to be suspended for more than 200,000 people from June, which is about 60 percent of the number of people currently receiving aid,” he told the Reuters news agency. The largest number of affected families are in Gaza and the West Bank, where food insecurity and poverty are highest.

The UN agency WFP gives poor and needy Palestinians a voucher of US$10.30 per month and a basket of food items. But both programs will be affected by WFP’s decision.

About 2.3 million people live in Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, 45 percent of whom are unemployed and 80 percent dependent on international aid, according to figures from Palestinian and UN agencies.

“WFP understands the impact this inevitable and difficult decision will have on the millions of people who depend on food aid for their most basic needs,” Abdul Jaber said.

Keep in mind that Israel says it has security concerns from Gaza’s ruling Hamas, which is why it has imposed a blockade along with Egypt and imposed restrictions on the movement of people and goods for years.

Abdul Jaber said the UN agency will continue its assistance to 140,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank. He added that the decision to suspend aid has been taken to protect those who face the most difficulty in getting food for themselves.

He said that if WFP does not receive funding, WFP will be forced to suspend its entire food and cash assistance program by August. Dozens of Palestinians protested in front of the WFP office in Gaza against this decision.

Faraz al-Masri, a father of two, whose family receives an aid voucher worth $41.20 a month, said: “This voucher is life. The message they sent us is like death because we have no other source of income. don’t have .”

“We will starve to death because my husband is sick and unemployed,” said Jamal al-Dabour, a resident of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Her family receives $164.80 worth of vouchers per month.