Sadness was drawn on the face of the young Hamed Abu Banat, who lives in the Gaza Strip, after the United Nations World Food Program stopped distributing the vouchers on which he and his family members live monthly.

Abu Banat, along with thousands of poor families benefiting from the program, received text messages at the beginning of May stating that they had stopped receiving the purchase voucher from the program.

The messages of the World Food Program stated, "In light of the lack of resources that the program is currently facing, and in order to ensure the continuation of food assistance to the neediest and most vulnerable groups, we regret to inform you of a temporary cessation of food assistance for your family, starting from the first of June 2023."

Abu Banat told Xinhua at his house in the northern Gaza Strip, "I am in pain because of the stopping of the voucher," which he used to receive at a value of 70 dollars a month, which is divided among the number of family members at a rate of 10 dollars for each person.

Abu Banat buys his family's basic needs, such as flour, sugar, rice, lentils, vegetable oil, and other things from shops approved by the program, equivalent to the value of the voucher he gets.

He added that suddenly stopping the voucher in light of the economic reality is difficult and will affect our lives, and action must be taken to provide an alternative in order to live safely.

Over the past few days, families who have stopped purchasing vouchers have demonstrated in front of the United Nations headquarters in Gaza, and raised banners with slogans reading "Don't let us starve" and "I am a Palestinian citizen and I have the right to food security."

The Palestinian, Bassem Awni, who had the voucher stopped, told Xinhua that the vouchers are a "monthly income for poor families," calling for intervention to return them in light of the difficult economic situation.

Palestinian Iman Shehadeh expressed her dissatisfaction with the suspension of granting the voucher, noting that it was a lifeline for her family of 6, in light of her husband's illness and his stay at home, unable to work.

Shehadeh told Xinhua that stopping the voucher "will increase the difficulties we face."

And the World Food Program announced a few days ago that 200,000 people in the Palestinian territories will not receive aid by next June, warning that the program may be forced to completely suspend its operations by next August if it does not receive any international funding.

"We need to take difficult measures to ensure the continuation of vital food assistance to the neediest families, otherwise they will be at risk of starvation without food aid," said WFP representative and country director in Palestine, Samer Abdel Jaber, in a statement posted on the program's website.

"These are painful choices, but we have already exhausted all options to utilize the funding we have, and we are grateful for the continued support we have received from donors over the past years, but the needs are increasing and the resources can no longer meet these needs," he added.

According to the statement, the program urgently needs $51 million to maintain the necessary food and cash assistance in Palestine until the end of 2023.

He pointed out that the program's aid represents nearly half of what people spend on food, and the cessation of aid will affect the fragile local economy, which will negatively affect a network of 300 local shops contracted by the program throughout Palestine.

The statement indicated that the program pumps about 3 million dollars every month into the Palestinian economy through its direct programs related to electronic cash transfers that allow people to buy wheat flour, vegetable oils and frozen meat.

Abdul Jaber called on government donors and the private sector to continue their support for the program during this difficult time to provide a lifeline to the Palestinians as well as build sustainable food solutions in Palestine and ensure that work does not stop.

The director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, Amjad Shawa, warned of the repercussions of stopping aid from the World Food Program and its impact on the most vulnerable groups in the Gaza Strip.

Shawa told Xinhua that more than 65 percent of the population of the Strip suffers from food insecurity, and 80 percent need and depend on aid, stressing the need to intensify aid to the population and not stop or reduce it.