WFP Suspends Rafah Aid Distribution

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has stopped distributing food in the southern Gaza city of Rafah due to a lack of supplies and security concerns. 

The organization also reported that no aid trucks have entered the territory in the past two days through a floating pier set up by the US for sea deliveries. 

The WFP warned that the $320 million (£250 million) project may fail unless Israel provides the necessary conditions for humanitarian groups to operate safely. Following an intensified assault by the Israeli military on 6 May, several hundred thousand people remain in Rafah, but relief agencies report that food aid deliveries have significantly decreased.

According to Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for WFP, humanitarian operations in Gaza are near collapse. She noted that if food and other supplies do not resume entering Gaza “in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread”.

Etefa further mentioned that the WFP had ceased distribution in Rafah after depleting its stocks. While the organization is still providing hot meals in central Gaza and conducting limited distributions of reduced food parcels in the area, the remaining food parcel stocks are expected to run out within days.