NEW YORK, (PIC)
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Wednesday that “escalating violence, arrests, and movement restrictions is increasing the rate of hunger among Palestinians in the West Bank.”
“Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have lost their work permits in Israel and are unable to leave the West Bank, while commercial activity within the occupied Palestinian territories is limited, which puts economy and the humanitarian situation at risk of further deterioration”, the WFP said in its report.
Since October 7, the West Bank has been grappling with economic and political deterioration, in addition to severe constraint on the freedom of movement due to the instalment of additional checkpoints, which restricted the movement of residents significantly.
The WFP said, “The current situation has left negative economic effects, as a huge number of workers have lost their jobs, companies have been forced to close or reduce their production”. The Palestinian Authority is facing a severe shortage of funding, affecting the salaries of its employees”, it added.
The WFP said that “the escalating movement restrictions have been affecting farmers financially due to their inability to reach customers, leading to “a significant rise in food prices in the West Bank, while unemployment and poverty rates are also rising.”
Meanwhile, the cities of the West Bank and Jerusalem are also witnessing an escalation, coinciding with the Israeli ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has so far led to the martyrdom of 28,576 people and the injury of 68,291 others, in addition to the displacement of more than 85 percent (about 1.9 million people) of the Strip’s population, according to official authorities and international bodies and organizations.
