Since January 2025, Israeli military operations targeting refugee camps in the northern West Bank have forcibly displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, including residents of the Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps. The WFP officially announced a 50 per cent reduction in aid recipients in September 2026, but some families, like that of 75-year-old Fawza Awad, had already stopped receiving aid months earlier.
Awad, who lives with her son's family in an unfinished house in Tulkarem after her home was demolished, told Al Jazeera that she suffers from asthma and high blood pressure and can no longer afford the 200 shekels ($64) monthly medication cost. "We used to receive modest food aid barely enough for two or three people, but now that has stopped completely," she said.
In the al-Muwahhad School building in Tulkarem, more than 1,000 displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Rabab Qasim, 47, and her husband Talib Abu Sarriya, 72, live with their three children in a 30-square-metre room. They have received no aid for the past three months. Talib told Al Jazeera that the family are often unable to find bread or a meal and frequently go to sleep hungry.
The WFP said it still assists 200,000 Palestinians in the West Bank through cash transfers and direct supplies, but does not have resources to cover all needs. The agency said the cuts do not reflect individual ineligibility but a "broad decision affecting all current beneficiaries".
Economist Ubai Aboudi told Al Jazeera that the West Bank is facing a humanitarian crisis compounded by the WFP cuts, the Palestinian Authority's financial crisis, Israel's withholding of customs revenues since May 2025, and the loss of work permits for tens of thousands of Palestinians previously employed in Israel.
In the southern West Bank, Said al-Amour, 61, who lost his leg after being shot by a settler in April 2025, said he has not received WFP aid for seven months. He requires monthly medical treatment costing at least 1,200 shekels ($385) that he cannot afford.