UN Food Agency Launches Emergency Effort to Aid Half a Million Palestinians

ROME: Warning that thousands of Palestinians were no longer able to afford basic needs, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today launched an emergency operation to help feed about half a million non-refugees living amid dramatically deteriorating conditions in the Palestinian Territories.

"Hunger and malnutrition are rapidly increasing among the Palestinians," said WFP Regional Director Khaled Adly. "Even when food is available in some of the markets, many impoverished Palestinians have become increasingly unable to meet all their food needs."

The Rome-based UN agency which said it hopes to provide about 70,000 tons of food to help the most needy Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until the end of the year, currently had about 29,000 tons available for the eight-month programme. With the 41,000-ton deficit estimated to cost about $18 million, WFP has appealed for funds to cover the shortage.

WFP voiced particular concern about some 360,000 extremely poor Palestinians, 60 per cent of whom belong to families where the breadwinner is a single mother, elderly, handicapped or chronically ill. The UN agency’s assistance will also go to help about 130,000 people who have lost their income as one or more members of the family lost their jobs in Israel due to security measures.