The United Nations' food agency said it is investigating a security incident that compromised personal information submitted by Palestinians seeking humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

In a message sent to aid recipients via Telegram over the weekend, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that "unauthorized parties" had accessed data stored in its self-registration application in Gaza, where individuals can register for food and cash assistance after completing a verification process.

The exposed information included names, identification numbers, phone numbers and location details, including neighborhood information collected during registration.

The U.N. agency said on Tuesday it had temporarily suspended the registration platform while investigating the incident.

WFP did not publicly disclose how many people were affected by the breach. However, in a statement to Geneva-based nonprofit news outlet The New Humanitarian, a WFP spokesperson said the incident exposed sensitive information belonging to about 600,000 Palestinian households in Gaza.

According to the report, the breach occurred on May 14 and was limited to the Self-Registration Application (SRA) used exclusively in Palestine.

"WFP took immediate action to shut down the platform, contain the intrusion, and strengthen its security controls to prevent further exposure," the spokesperson said.

The agency has not publicly identified who may have been behind the intrusion or how the attackers gained access to the system. WFP did not respond to a request for comment from Recorded Future News. It is not yet clear whether any of the information was leaked.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian organization focused on combating hunger and food insecurity. According to the agency, it provides food parcels, hot meals, bread and cash assistance to about 1.6 million people in Gaza each month.