In 2023, this cycle reached new unprecedented peaks as tensions escalated in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since October 7, the WFP said in a statement.

WFP stressed that such a situation “led to civilian deaths, widespread destruction, massive displacement, rising food prices and a depreciated currency.”

Now, Gaza’s entire population of 2.2 million people is in urgent need of food, humanitarian assistance and protection, WFP added, while noting 1.7 million were displaced to makeshift shelters or overcrowded areas with limited access to basic needs.

Half a million face catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, representing the highest proportion of the population ever reported globally.

Lack of food, coupled with insufficient intake of essential macro and micronutrients, is of particular concern for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls.

However, the WFP stressed that “the humanitarian response has been insufficient to avert imminent famine.”

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