The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said it was starting a project to collect data on the number and condition of poor people who do not have adequate access to food in those regions. The information, which the agency planned to give to the Palestinian Authority, should help leaders respond to the emergency and help those most vulnerable, the FAO said.

"A better understanding of the food security and nutrition situation of the population is necessary for developing a food security strategy," Christian Miczaika of the agency's Special Emergency Programs Service said in a statement.

The agency blamed movement of goods and people, loss of work and income and depletion of resources for the difficulties.

The $1 million project is funded by the European Commission and builds on an earlier and similar project that was paid for by Australia, the food agency said