Middle East Crisis

Gaza War
Vital UN aid slashed – 500,000 Palestinians affected

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is being forced to “drastically reduce life-saving aid” to the Gaza Strip due to a lack of funding, the BBC reports.

The cuts mean that the number of people the UN agency can assist will decrease by a third—from 1.6 million to 1.1 million.

The announcement comes as winter approaches and food shortages remain widespread. Families living in hard-to-reach areas may see their meal deliveries reduced from daily to every other day.

“It’s a catastrophe. What are we supposed to do with smaller food rations? How are we going to keep the little ones fed?” says Mervat al-Satari, a mother of five living in the al-Mawasi refugee camp.

Shaun Hughes, the WFP’s director for Palestine, emphasizes that the cuts are being made for financial reasons—not because needs have decreased or because the deliveries have become logistically difficult to carry out. 

West Bank
Ten arrested over attack on diplomats in the West Bank

Israeli police have arrested ten people in the occupied West Bank, suspected of attacking an American photographer and a French mayor, AFP reports.

On Friday, settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats—including 78-year-old mayor Bernard Baudoux—who were visiting the area to show support for Palestine. The attack took place the day after Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was assaulted and injured in the area.

Violence by settlers in the West Bank is on the rise, and the Israeli government has faced harsh criticism for its handling of the issue.