As bombs and hunger haunt Gaza, WFP and partners push to ramp up support
Story | 22 November 2023
Emergency
A sharp escalation of the conflict in Gaza has left the entire population in desperate and catastrophic conditions. Around 2.2 million people, nearly the entire population, now need food assistance. Hundreds of thousands are crammed into overcrowded shelters and hospitals, with food and water running out.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided emergency food and cash assistance to over 700,000 people across Gaza and the West Bank. WFP was working with 23 bakeries in Gaza at the start of its emergency response, providing bread for 200,000 people in shelters. But food systems are collapsing. The last bakery that WFP had been working with was shut down because it had no fuel or gas.
WFP is distributing all the assistance it has inside Gaza, as quickly as it can. But without safe access, fuel and connectivity, our ability to conduct our operations is limited. To make a meaningful impact, we need a halt in the hostilities.
Nearly one-third of the population of Palestine – 33.6 percent, or 1.84 million people – are food insecure. Funding shortages had already meant a devastating cut in assistance for 60 percent of WFP food-assistance recipients in June 2023.