UN agency slashes Gaza food aid over funding, warns needs persist

The World Food Programme said Monday it would end monthly assistance to 500,000 people in Gaza due to a funding shortfall, despite acute needs in the war-battered Palestinian territory. With the cutbacks, 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza — still about half the population — will be receiving either food or cash assistance each month from the UN agency, in reduced amounts. The World Food Programme (WFP) said its efforts had mitigated the effects during a famine last year in Gaza — a description of the situation disputed by Israel — and warned that conditions had not improved to the point that…