Poverty in the Palestinian territories is deepening according to a report published by the leading British newspaper The Independent. About 46 percent of the Palestinians are either food insecure or in danger of becoming so.

The unpublished draft report by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) indicates that the 'problem is primarily a function of restricted economic access to food resulting from ongoing political conditions.'

World Vision Jerusalem – West Bank – Gaza National Director Charles Claytons says that the report reflects the grim reality for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children and their families in the West Bank and Gaza.

'World Vision is doing its best to improve food security in the communities it works with. Food security is now our most important focus area.

'For instance, we have established dozens of home gardens and cisterns and rehabilitated tens of acres of land for agriculture to insure that people have food to eat. We aim to guarantee sustainable development through such projects.

'We are now in the process of submitting more proposals on food security to the World Vision Partnership and major government donors,' says Mr Clayton.

The WFP defines food insecurity as the inability of a household to produce and or access at all times the minimum food needed for a healthy active life.

The report also reveals that four out every five families in Gaza have reduced their spending – including on food - due to the ongoing economic crisis.

It explains that 'traditionally strong ties' among Palestinian families have helped prevent 'acute household hunger.'

In addition to regular food security projects, World Vision also distributed food parcels last summer to more than 110,000 people living in 19 communities in the Gaza Strip.