World Food Programme warns about food shortage in Gaza as Israeli bombing disrupts aid efforts

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday estimated that an additional 160,000 Palestinians are at risk of going hungry after being caught in the crossfire between the Israeli army and Hamas, reported by CTGN.

"People in Gaza have already been going through a food security crisis. With the current escalation, it's just adding to the needs on the ground," WFP Representative and Country Director in Palestine Samer AbdelJaber told UN News.
 

Two out of three in Gaza, home to 2 million people, were lacking adequate access to food before violence erupted last week, according to the WFP, which already provides regular support to around 260,000 in the Palestinian territory.

Living conditions in Gaza have been bleak since 2007, when Israel tightened movement restrictions and imposed a land, air and sea blockade after Hamas took control. Today, 53 percent of residents in the fenced-in area live in poverty, and unemployment stands at 45 percent. The fallout of COVID-19 has compounded the already dire situation, and now the fresh bout of fighting is piling on the agony.

Shelling and airstrikes by Israeli forces have forced Gazans out of their homes, but displacement is exposing those seeking safety to a different kind of insecurity.

"For people who have lost or fled their homes, one of the most pressing needs at the moment is food," AbdelJaber said in a statement.
 

Some 72,000 Palestinians have been internally displaced since last week, the latest data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows. Among them, some 65 percent have sought refuge in schools run by the UN, with the rest staying with host families.