Hundreds of thousands in Gaza at risk amid food shortages

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that one million people in Gaza, most of them displaced, are without a source of income and entirely dependent on humanitarian aid.

In a statement issued in Jerusalem on Saturday, the WFP stressed that with food stocks dwindling and border crossings remaining closed, Gaza is in urgent need of food assistance.

“We are running out of our stocks to deliver,” the WFP’s Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told a foreign TV channel.

Palestinians children receive free food at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. AFP

“That doesn’t mean that there may not be other stocks available. People might have some food in their homes. But we are running out and by Monday, I think, we will not be able to continue with our street kitchens,” Skau said.

Palestinians wait in front of a free food distribution point to receive their portion of a hot meal. AFP

“That means, from WFP’s point of view, there is nothing left. We have been assisting over a million people over these past few months,” he said.

The agency warned that hundreds of thousands of residents are at risk as food supplies continue to run low.