The World Food Programme has suspended or reduced aid for some of its Palestinian beneficiaries in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip due to funding shortages, an official with the organisation said Sunday. Some 27,000 Palestinians are no longer receiving aid through the United Nations programme since January 1 in the West Bank, said Stephen Kearney, the organisation's director for the Palestinian territories.

Another 165,000, including 110,000 in Gaza, are receiving 80 percent of the usual amount, he said. The cuts were decided upon after a gradual reduction in donations over the past nearly four years, with US cuts having the biggest effect.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019