WFP cuts aid in Gaza amid funding shortages, leaving 500,000 Palestinians without support

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced major cuts to its Gaza response because of a funding shortage, leaving about 500,000 people without critical support at a time when much of the population of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory struggles to get enough to eat.

In a statement on Monday, the UN agency said it had received less than half as much funding for its Palestine operation in 2026 as in previous years. It said it urgently needs a further $450 million to maintain critical operations in the occupied Palestinian territory over the next six months.

The shortfall directly reduces the reach of monthly assistance. The WFP said it would reduce the number of people receiving monthly assistance in Gaza from 1.6 million to 1.1 million — meaning roughly 500,000 people will fall outside that support.

Rations are being cut as well as beneficiary numbers. Instead of two food parcels per family, families will now receive one, and bags of flour will be smaller, the agency said.

Hot meal provision is also being reduced, from 250,000 meals a day to 150,000. Families living in hard-to-reach areas, including near the so-called 'yellow line' demarcating Israeli military control, will receive a hot meal every other day instead of daily.

The WFP warned that the funding shortages threaten to reverse progress on food security. In the agency's words, the recent improvement 'remains modest and fragile' — and that fragile progress is now at risk.

As context, the report noted that more than three years of war on Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel have brought the collapse of education, healthcare and the economy, while access to food, water, shelter and other basic necessities has become a daily struggle.

According to Gaza's health ministry, more than 74,245 Palestinians have been killed in the war. UN estimates show more than 80 percent of people are unemployed and unable to afford fresh or protein-rich foods when they are available.

The situation for children is particularly concerning. Only one in five children consumes a sufficiently diverse diet, while access to health services remains limited, according to UN figures.

An estimated 1.4 million people, or 67 percent of Gaza's population, are experiencing acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse. That figure is down from 1.6 million people, or 77 percent of the population, at the end of 2025 — but the WFP said the improvement remains modest and fragile.

The funding shortfall has already affected operations beyond Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, the number of people receiving assistance was halved in September, from 400,000 to 200,000.

Taken together, the WFP's message is clear: without urgent new funding, humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank will shrink further, and the modest gains made in food security could be lost.