Funding shortages force World Food Programme to cut aid to Gaza

ByYolande Knell Middle East correspondent, Reporting fromJerusalem.

Key points

• In the occupied West Bank, the WFP is continuing to offer assistance to some 200, 000 Palestinians, having halved the number of recipients in September.
• The WFP received less than half as much funding for its Palestinian operations in 2026 as in previous years.
• For now, the WFP notes it can continue supporting bakeries that provide one-third of Gaza's bread needs and provide nutritional assistance to concerning 300, 000 women and children.
• Overall, the number of individuals assisted by the UN agency will drop by regarding a third – from 1.6 million to 1.1 million.
• Almost all of Gaza's 2.1 million population remains displaced and two-thirds rely on food aid to survive.

One of the main suppliers of food aid to the Gaza Strip, the World Food Programme (WFP), notes that it is being forced to "drastically reduce lifesaving assistance" to the Palestinian territory due to funding shortages.

In practice, the cuts will hit as winter approaches and at a time when plenty of families in Gaza are still struggling to feed themselves.

One effect is that the number of hot meals that are at present being provided by community kitchens will be cut from 250, 000 to 150, 000 each day.

Families living in hard-to-reach areas, for example near the so-called Yellow Line. It demarcates Israel's area of military control, will receive a meal every other day instead of daily.

"It's a disaster! What will we do with these reduced rations? How will we provide for the little ones?" remarked Mervat al-Satari, a displaced Palestinian mother-of-five at a camp in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis after being informed of the WFP's news. "Sometimes we wait for these meals to eat."

"This will affect us a lot. The daily aid was somehow ticking the box but now it will be every two days, " remarked Sawsan Bahloul. This person is additionally from al-Mawasi and is a mother of three. She continued that the portions given by the community kitchen – usually pasta or lentils with occasional potatoes and aubergines – were already too small to feed her family.

In practice, the Palestine director for the WFP, Shaun Hughes, is clear that the cuts are being created as of finances, and "not because the needs are coming down, or because we don't have access – we do."

Since July, there have been reductions in cash transfers provided to some half a million individuals, meaning they have less capital to purchase food in local markets, already. The number of Gazans given bags of flour and ration boxes by the WFP will now fall from 1.1 million to 600, 000 each month.

Notably, the WFP received less than half as much funding for its Palestinian operations in 2026 as in previous years. The agency notes it urgently needs $450m (£338m) to maintain "critical" operations over the next six months.

Despite a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that was agreed a year ago, humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain dire.

There has been no reconstruction and little recovery, with Israel tightly controlling the entry of goods through crossings. While food markets are now well stocked, few can afford to purchase from them. More than 80% of individuals in Gaza are unemployed so most of the population relies on aid.

Families at present receiving the WFP food handouts complained to the BBC that already these were insufficient and provided them little diversity in their diets.

"The flour isn't enough and the food boxes aren't enough either, " remarked Dalal al-Dahdouh. This person is living in the ruins of her home in Gaza City with her family of eight. She fears the new cuts will have "a major impact".

Notably, the mother draws a contrast between the current desperate situation and life before the war. "Previously, thank God, we had our own home and a wonderful life. We had fresh vegetables, proper sanitation facilities and our own land, " she remarked. "Now we live entirely on aid, including WFP vouchers."

There is no cooking gas available in Gaza since the Israeli administration considers it a "dual use" item that could be applied by Hamas for military purposes. Wood is expensive, so plenty of families send their children into the street to find plastic and cardboard to burn as fuel to produce bread or heat food.

"It's still a very concerning humanitarian situation, people living in brutal conditions, most people still without a proper home, living in tents, poor access to water and sanitation and healthcare, " Hughes of the WFP informed the BBC. "Cuts to food assistance are going to compound that hardship that families have been facing for three years now."

Humanitarian workers say that despite a modest improvement in Gaza compared to a year ago, acute food insecurity and the risk of famine returning continue to loom over the territory.

In July, the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) – the world's foremost experts on food security – documented that two-thirds of the population – 1.4 million residents – were "expected to face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity in July-December 2026".

For now, the WFP notes it can continue supporting bakeries that provide one-third of Gaza's bread needs and provide nutritional assistance to concerning 300, 000 women and children. It additionally delivers health food snacks to some 200, 000 children.

Notably, the agency notes food insecurity is rising in the territory mostly due to climbed Israeli settler violence and Palestinian displacement.

For now, funding shortages force World Food Programme to cut aid to Gaza remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.