Half a Million People in Gaza to Lose Food Aid Due to Funding Shortages: UN

The United Nations's World Food Program announced on Monday that funding shortages were forcing it to significantly reduce assistance in Gaza, where it projected half a million people would lose access to food aid.

The WFP said the cuts would also mean that families still receiving assistance will only get half of the rations they previously received.

WFP has cut the number of hot meals it provides in Gaza by 40%, while reducing the value of cash assistance it provides to 75,000 families.

The agency also said that it would be reducing its operations in the West Bank, where an estimated 200,000 people are projected to lose access to food assistance.

The WFP said the fiscal shortfalls came after it received "less than half as much funding for its Palestine operation in 2026 as in previous years," adding that it needs $450 million to maintain its critical operations in the two Palestinian territories over the next six months.

"As winter approaches," WFP said, "additional resources are urgently needed to sustain emergency food assistance, provide critical engineering support and prevent malnutrition among young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women."

Shaun Hughes, WFP's representative and country director for Palestine, told The Guardian that the cuts were coming after the program had made steady progress in reducing hunger in Gaza, while emphasizing that "these are very fragile gains, easily reversed, and the situation is still brutal."

"We need to invest in recovery," Hughes added. "This humanitarian operation isn’t affordable or sustainable in the long term. Ultimately that’s also what everyone in Gaza is telling us. They really don’t want to be reliant on these handouts, don’t want to stand in the hot meals queue every day. They want to have some chance of stability and recovery."

Some Palestinians who spoke with BBC on Monday expressed horror at news of the cuts, which come as Gaza is still under attack by Israeli forces.

Mervat al-Satari, a displaced Palestinian mother, told BBC that the cuts were "a disaster" and asked "how will we provide for the little ones?"

Palestinian mother Dalal al-Dahdouh, who is living in the ruins of her home in Gaza City, told BBC that WFP rations were already insufficient before the cuts took effect.

"In the past, thank God, we had our own home and a wonderful life," al-Dahdouh said. "We had fresh vegetables, proper sanitation facilities, and our own land. Now we live entirely on aid, including WFP vouchers."