CYBER-ATTACK EXPOSED PERSONAL DETAILS OF 600,000 GAZA HOUSEHOLDS, WFP SAYS

Wed 03 June 2026:

The World Food Programme (WFP) has informed 600,000 Palestinian families in Gaza that their personal information was exposed in a “security-related incident”, according to The New Humanitarian news organisation.

According to a statement provided to The New Humanitarian by the WFP, the data that was accessed came from a “self-registration application (SRA) for Palestine, where individuals are able to register to receive food and cash assistance after verification”.

The information exposed to “unauthorised actors” included names, ID and mobile phone numbers, and location data, the news organisation reports.

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The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to rely on aid programmes for food and other necessities under Israel’s brutal siege, which became more severe during its genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

WFP confirmed the data breach on 2 June: “WFP recently detected unauthorized access of its self-registration application (SRA) for Palestine, where individuals are able to register to receive food and cash assistance after verification,” a spokesperson said in a statement responding to questions from The New Humanitarian. “WFP took immediate action to shut down the platform, contain the intrusion, and strengthen its security controls to prevent further exposure.”

More than 2 million people in Gaza have submitted their personal information to WFP’s self-registration application, known as People Portal, which the WFP credits for cutting registration red tape and response times. The spokesperson said the compromised data is “isolated to the SRA application used only in Palestine”.

An investigation is under way, and no party has claimed responsibility, WFP said.

WFP said the cyber-attack occurred on 14 May. The Telegram message to affected Gazans was sent 17 days later.

The breach comes amid a contentious effort by Israel to obtain aid workers’ personal information as a condition for their employers’ access to Palestine. Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the requirement on 20 May, giving organisations 30 days to comply or be forced to end operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

“It comes at a very scary, unpredictable time where this law, and this data, can be literally weaponised against people, used to track people down, cause harm,” said a Gazan humanitarian worker, who received WFP’s statement and requested anonymity for security reasons, adding: “And it’s been breached.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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