Rising hunger and poverty impacting families in the West Bank
By Janina Eddy
A report just released by World Vision International, a humanitarian NGO that operates to help vulnerable children in areas across the world, shows that families across the West Bank are continuing to experience an unprecedented crisis, with rising poverty levels, hunger, and uncertainty. All this, within communities that have already faced long-standing hardship.
Kristen Phelps, National Director for World Vision in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza, told Vatican Radio she feels it is important to continue highlighting this issue, “as conditions in the West Bank have deteriorated quite severely.”
The report is based on an analysis of the conditions of Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, since October 2023, where at least 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in violence perpetrated by Israel that continues to launch violent raids on towns, burning property, attacking people, and trying to drive them out of their homes.
“It was shocking to see that from 2023 to now there are startling degradations in the quality of life in the West Bank”, she said, explaining that the data released by World Vision is based on its report, which surveyed 2,511 individuals across the region between November 2024 and January 2025.
The report reveals that an astounding 74% of households now live below the minimum standard of living, which is a dramatic jump from 21% in 2023.
“This has skyrocketed to nearly 3 out of 4 families now living below minimum standard in just a period of a year… for this to happen so rapidly shows a really startling and concerning decline”, Phelps added.
Children skipping meals
More significantly, 70% of children surveyed say that they are skipping meals frequently, and nearly half do so more than ten times a month, she explained.
Phelps also highlighted that the report states that 9% of children have dropped out of school, and 37% of communities report declining attendance.
A combined approach
When asked about how World Vision is working to protect the rights of children and ensure they continue to have access in the areas of education and basic nutrition amid such dire conditions, Phelps said, “taking a community based approach through our innovative Area Based programs; working through systems of child sponsorships; matching donors to children and communities in need…working closely with village councils, educators in the ministry of education systems, as well as civil defense: a combined emergency department”.
In a region which has been afflicted by conflict for a long period of time, this worsening situation, she reiterated, continues to be in urgent need of coordinated global action.
Appeal for immediate attention
World Vision’s Middle East and Eastern European leader, Eleanor Monbiot, also stressed the critical moment that is at hand.
“Amidst the crises, children in the West Bank are being forgotten. We have been working in some of these communities for decades, and the levels of violence, hunger and abuse are unfortunately the highest I have ever seen,” she lamented.
Calling for international attention, she said, “We need urgent action to end hostilities, restore economic growth and support families to recover, protect children’s rights, and restore their hope”.
A wake-up call
Concluding, Phelps pointed out that “these findings are really a wakeup call: the humanitarian needs of children in the West Bank have never been so great, and this is a wakeup call that we must stand with communities in the West Bank and listen to their voices, making sure that we are scaling up efforts to meet their urgent needs and invest in their future”.
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