The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is cutting food assistance to around 500,000 Palestinians in Gaza because of funding shortages, as two-thirds of the population face crisis-level food insecurity or worse.
The agency said on Monday that it would reduce the number of people receiving monthly food assistance from 1.6 million to 1.1 million, further limiting support for families struggling to secure enough food.
The cuts come as more than two million Palestinians continue to face difficult living conditions, with many living in temporary shelters and lacking access to adequate basic services.
Food rations and hot meals reduced
The WFP has also reduced the amount of food provided to recipients, halving food rations as funding constraints force the agency to scale back its operations.
Cash assistance has been cut for 75,000 families, while the number of daily hot meals provided to people unable to cook has fallen from 250,000 to 150,000.
Some families in hard-to-reach areas are now receiving a hot meal only every other day, according to the agency.
The WFP estimates that around 1.4 million people, or two-thirds of Gaza’s population, face crisis-level food insecurity or worse. This includes approximately 200,000 people experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity.
WFP warns of worsening conditions ahead of winter
Carl Skau, the WFP’s acting executive director, told Reuters during a visit to Gaza that living conditions remained extremely difficult a year after the ceasefire agreement.
He highlighted the lack of adequate shelter, basic services and security, warning that the funding cuts were coming as residents faced another winter.
Skau described winters in Gaza as particularly harsh and urged the international community to maintain its support.
The WFP said it urgently needs $450 million over the next six months to sustain its critical operations in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Skau called on donors not to turn away from the crisis, stressing the importance of maintaining assistance and supporting early recovery efforts.
Ceasefire has brought limited progress
The funding cuts come amid limited progress towards implementing the wider ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States last year, which envisaged the eventual reconstruction of Gaza.
The agreement includes provisions concerning Hamas’ disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli troops, but significant challenges remain.
Israeli forces continue to hold more than 60% of the territory and carry out near-daily airstrikes, Reuters reported. Hamas controls most of the areas where more than two million Palestinians live, many of them in temporary shelters.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office described the WFP’s announcement as “catastrophic”, warning that the cuts could accelerate famine and calling for increased funding for humanitarian agencies.
Palestinians voice frustration over aid cuts
The announcement has added to the hardship faced by displaced families already struggling with the effects of war, destruction and restricted access to essential supplies.
Sabrine Kuhail, a Palestinian woman living in a tent at a displacement site in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, expressed frustration over the continued deterioration in living conditions.
She told Reuters that Palestinians had endured years of war, destruction and hardship, questioning why further difficulties were being imposed on a population already exhausted by the crisis.
The WFP’s warning highlights the growing pressure on humanitarian operations in Gaza as agencies struggle to maintain food assistance amid funding shortages and persistent insecurity.
Reuters/By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa
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