The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Monday that funding shortages have forced it to reduce food assistance in Gaza by roughly one-third, removing critical support from about 500,000 people as winter approaches.
From October, the agency will assist 1.1 million of Gaza’s most vulnerable residents, down from 1.6 million the previous month. WFP said it can no longer sustain the level of support it has provided since the ceasefire announced in October 2025, when it reached about 1.6 million people monthly through food parcels, flour, bread, hot meals, nutrition support, school snacks and cash assistance.
Scope of reductions
Food rations have been halved: families will receive one food parcel rather than two, along with a smaller bag of wheat flour. Daily hot-meal distribution will fall from 250,000 to 150,000 meals, while families in hard-to-reach areas—including near the “yellow line” of Israeli military control—will receive a hot meal every other day rather than daily.news.
WFP has also reduced the value of cash assistance for 75,000 families. It will continue, for now, to support bakeries supplying about one-third of Gaza’s bread needs, provide nutrition assistance to 300,000 women and children, and deliver school snacks to 200,000 children.news.
Food-security situation
The cuts come despite a modest improvement in food security. An estimated 1.4 million people—67 percent of Gaza’s population—remain in acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse, down from 1.6 million, or 77 percent, at the end of 2025.
About 200,000 people remain in Emergency conditions, classified as IPC Phase 4, where immediate assistance is needed to prevent hunger-related deaths. WFP said only one in five children eats a sufficiently diverse diet, while limited access to health, water, sanitation and hygiene services compounds the crisis. More than 80 percent of Gaza’s population is unemployed, limiting many families’ ability to buy fresh or protein-rich food.
Funding appeal
WFP said improved humanitarian access since October 2025 had helped reduce need, but warned that the gains are fragile and could reverse if assistance declines further. It received less than half the funding for its Palestine operation in 2026 compared with previous years.news.
The agency is appealing for USD 450 million to maintain operations in Gaza and the West Bank from October 2026 to March 2027. It also said funding shortfalls have halved assistance in the West Bank, reducing recipients from 400,000 to 200,000 in September.