UN food programme announces huge cuts to Palestinians due to funding crisis

The United Nations' World Food Programme has said it will be cutting services to nearly 200,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip due to a lack of funding.

The WFP said in a statement on Wednesday it needs another $57 million to continue providing for 360,000 impoverished Palestinians in 2019.

Of those affected by the budget shortages, 27,000 Palestinians in the West Bank will lose food service, and another 166,000 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will receive reduced services.

Raphael du Boispean, a WFP spokesman, attributed the crisis to the "recurrent problem" of declining donations.

The help provided by WFP is through electronic cards which people use to buy food at a network of 185 shops.

Humanitarian workers and Palestinians fear the cuts will have a wider impact on the economy, as people buy less from businesses who in turn purchase less from suppliers.

The Palestinians have faced major budget cuts this year after the United States slashed funding for the UN's Palestinian refugee program UNRWA and for USAID programs in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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