WFP Cuts Gaza Food Aid Amid Funding Crisis

The World Food Programme (WFP) says funding shortages are forcing it to reduce food assistance in Gaza, even though humanitarian needs remain severe. The number of people it helps will fall by about one-third, from 1.6 million to 1.1 million. Daily hot meals provided by community kitchens will drop from 250,000 to 150,000, and families in hard-to-reach areas will receive meals every other day rather than daily. Monthly distributions of flour and ration boxes will also be reduced, from 1.1 million recipients to 600,000. Earlier cuts to cash assistance have already left around half a million people with less money to buy food. The reductions come as winter approaches. Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents remain displaced, about two-thirds depend on food aid, and more than 80% are unemployed. People interviewed by the BBC said existing food portions were already inadequate and lacked variety. One mother described the cuts as a “disaster,” while another said her family sometimes waits for meals to eat. The WFP’s Palestine director, Shaun Hughes, emphasized that the reductions are due to finances, not falling needs or lack of access. The agency says it received less than half as much funding for its Palestinian operations in 2026 as in previous years and urgently needs $450 million to sustain critical work for six months. Despite a ceasefire agreed a year earlier, violence continues, reconstruction has not begun, and Israel tightly controls the entry of goods. Food is available in markets, but many people cannot afford it. A lack of cooking gas, which Israel considers a potential dual-use item, has led families to burn plastic and cardboard for cooking fuel. Humanitarian workers warn that acute food insecurity remains widespread and that famine risks could return. The WFP will continue supporting bakeries, nutrition programs for women and children, and health-food assistance for children. In the occupied West Bank, it is assisting fewer people than before as food insecurity rises amid settler violence and displacement.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is cutting food assistance in Gaza because of severe funding shortages, even as food insecurity remains widespread and winter approaches. The agency will reduce the number of people receiving aid from 1.6 million to 1.1 million, leaving approximately 500,000 people without support. It will also halve food rations, reduce cash assistance for about 75,000 families, and cut the number of hot meals provided to people unable to cook from 250,000 to 150,000. The WFP says around 1.4 million people in Gaza face crisis levels of food insecurity, including 200,000 in emergency conditions. The cuts come amid ongoing hardship despite a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect the previous year. Israeli strikes have continued, aid remains restricted, and progress toward a lasting end to the conflict has been limited. WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau described conditions as brutal, citing inadequate shelter, a lack of basic services, and insecurity. He also warned that the cuts are taking place as Gaza faces another harsh winter. The WFP says it urgently needs $450 million (€400 million) to maintain essential operations in Gaza and the West Bank over the next six months. Skau appealed to the international community to sustain assistance and support early recovery. The agency had already announced aid cuts in the West Bank in early September, also attributing them to funding shortages and donor fatigue. In contrast, COGAT, the Israeli authority responsible for the Palestinian territories, says aid deliveries into Gaza exceed food demand and disputes that the territory is experiencing acute food insecurity.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says it will end monthly assistance for 500,000 people in Gaza because of a funding shortfall, reducing the number receiving food or cash aid to 1.1 million. Since the October 2025 ceasefire, the agency had been assisting between 1.5 million and 1.8 million people each month. WFP country director Shaun Hughes said the reductions are not caused by an inability to deliver supplies, but by a lack of money. Aid for families who remain eligible will also shrink. Food recipients will receive one parcel instead of two and less wheat flour, while 75,000 families receiving cash will see monthly payments cut from 1,250 to 750 shekels. Hughes stressed that conditions have not improved enough to warrant the cuts: airstrikes and displacement continue, and most people still lack permanent homes. Recent assessments estimate that 1.4 million people—two-thirds of Gaza’s population—remain acutely food insecure and need aid to survive. The WFP warns that winter could increase needs further. The article recalls that a UN-backed assessment declared famine conditions in Gaza in August 2025, a finding Israel rejected. The classification was lifted in December, two months after a US-brokered ceasefire, although Israeli strikes have continued. The agency’s finances have deteriorated in part because US President Donald Trump cut contributions to UN agencies. The WFP says it needs about $450 million over the next six months for Gaza and the West Bank, but has received only around half its usual funding for the Palestinian territories this year. It had already halved West Bank assistance in September, to 200,000 people. Israel has allowed more goods into Gaza under the ceasefire but continues to block items it considers to have potential military uses, including prosthetic limbs, according to the UN. Hughes urged continued attention to the humanitarian crisis.