Half a million people in Gaza are losing food assistance because the U.N. World Food Programme no longer has enough money to help them, the agency announced Monday.
For families still receiving food, there will be less to eat. WFP has halved rations: one food parcel instead of two, and a smaller bag of wheat flour.
The cuts reduce the number of people receiving food and cash assistance to 1.1 million this month, from 1.6 million in September. That is a drop of about one-third as Gaza heads into winter.
WFP is also providing 150,000 hot meals a day, down from 250,000. Families in areas that are difficult to reach, including near the yellow line marking Israeli military control, will get a meal every other day rather than daily.
Another 75,000 families will receive smaller cash payments.
The agency said funding for its Palestine operation this year amounted to less than half what it received in previous years. It is seeking $450 million to maintain essential work in Gaza and the West Bank through March 2027.
The reductions come despite continuing hunger across Gaza. WFP cited estimates that 1.4 million people — 67% of the population — face acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse.
At the end of 2025, the figure was 1.6 million, or 77%. Better access for humanitarian workers and more aid deliveries since October 2025 helped bring that number down, according to the agency.
About 200,000 people remain in emergency conditions, classified as Phase 4 under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. WFP said they need immediate food assistance to prevent deaths from hunger.
The broader estimate includes people in IPC Phase 3, or crisis, and above. Virginia Times has not independently verified the hunger estimates.
WFP reported that only one in five children eats a sufficiently varied diet. Health care, water, sanitation and hygiene services remain limited.
With unemployment above 80%, according to the agency, many families cannot afford fresh produce or protein-rich food even when it is available.
A woman pictured in the release lives in displacement in Al Saraya Camp. WFP’s caption says she lost three sons, her husband and her home during the war and has no steady income.
“We spent a whole week without bread. This bag of flour means everything to me. It means life,” she said.
Some assistance will continue. WFP still supports bakeries supplying one-third of Gaza’s bread needs, provides nutrition aid to 300,000 women and children, and supplies school snacks to 200,000 children.
Over the past three years, its food assistance has helped up to 90% of Gaza’s families. Since the October 2025 ceasefire announcement, the agency has reached about 1.6 million people each month through food, cash, nutrition support and school snacks.
The shortage of money has also affected the West Bank, where WFP cut assistance from 400,000 people to 200,000 in September.
WFP warned that Gaza’s modest improvement in food security could reverse if funding continues to fall. It cited an IPC warning that reducing humanitarian assistance could sharply increase food aid needs.
Its appeal covers operations from October 2026 through March 2027, including emergency food aid, engineering support and work to prevent malnutrition among young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Have something to promote?
Bring your business, services or event to our readers.
