World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

In the face of ongoing conflict in Gaza, WFP is pressing ahead with food distributions to ensure that families in the embattled territory don’t go hungry. WFP is monitoring the situation carefully and stands ready to provide additional assistance should humanitarian needs increase.

Sharifa Deif Allah, 12 , is among the 35,000 people that receive food rations through an assistance programme for herder and Bedouin communities run jointly by WFP and UNRWA in the West Bank. She agreed to answer 10 questions about her life and hopes for the future.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran kicked off a three-day visit to the Middle East by visiting shops in the West Bank that are participating in WFP’s electronic voucher programmes. This 'digital food' provided to the most vulnerable Palestinians supports local shopkeepers and food producers, she explained.

Tunisian actress Hend Sabry saw the impact of WFP’s first food voucher scheme in the Middle East recently when she spent a day with a Palestinian family in Nablus. Her presence also put a smile on faces at a market where thousands of Palestinians spend the vouchers.

When WFP launched its emergency operation for Gaza recently, setting up food flows was no easy task. As Ekram El-Huni explains, the El Arish warehouse in Egypt was a crucial part of the logistics operation.

Since the hostilities erupted on 27 December, WFP has continued delivering food to the civilian population in Gaza, distributing two-month rations to more than 222,000 people.

"Ready-to-eat meals offer an immediate solution to the food needs of hospital patients, who might otherwise go hungry.”

As the crisis in Gaza enters its second month, WFP is reaching out to more hungry people through daily food distributions, and free school meals for children.

Christine van Nieuwenhuyse, WFP Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territories, travelled to Gaza with a joint UN preliminary assessment mission. This is her account of what she saw.