KEY POINTS
- The World Food Programme is reducing food assistance in Gaza from about 1.6 million people to 1.1 million from October.
- The agency says it needs $450 million over six months to sustain assistance in Gaza and the West Bank.
- Food rations have been halved, while the WFP estimates that 67 per cent of Gaza’s population faces acute hunger or worse.
- Israeli authorities maintain that aid deliveries into Gaza are sufficient to meet residents’ food needs.
MAIN STORY
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is cutting food assistance in Gaza by roughly one-third because of funding shortages, leaving about 500,000 Palestinians without the agency’s support, according to a statement issued on Monday.
The WFP said it had been providing food parcels, bread and cash assistance to approximately 1.6 million Palestinians each month since a ceasefire agreement began in October 2025. However, the agency said it could no longer sustain that level of support.
“WFP no longer has sufficient funding to sustain this level of support,” the organisation said.
From October, the agency plans to reduce the number of people receiving assistance to 1.1 million, a cut of about 31 per cent from its previous reach.
WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau told the BBC that the agency needs $450 million over the next six months to maintain its operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
“We have to make sure we can help bring back normalcy and dignity to people’s lives,” Skau said.
“Efforts need to be stepped up, it’s not acceptable that people are suffering the way they are,” he added.
The funding gap comes as many people in Gaza continue to live in makeshift shelters or the remains of their homes, with sewage and accumulated rubbish contributing to difficult living conditions, according to the United Nations.
Employment opportunities and ways to earn a living remain limited, while the security situation across the coastal territory continues to pose risks to residents and humanitarian operations.
The UN said its teams recorded about 50 attacks a day during the previous week. Even among people who continue to receive WFP assistance, the amount of food available has declined. The agency said food rations had been cut by half, while distributed hot meals were often insufficient.
The WFP estimates that about 67 per cent of Gaza’s population experiences acute hunger or worse, underscoring the scale of food insecurity despite the ceasefire and continuing humanitarian assistance.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which monitors food crises globally, no longer classifies Gaza as experiencing famine, according to the supplied report. However, the initiative has said the population remains seriously affected by malnutrition and food insecurity.
Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the authority responsible for coordinating civilian and humanitarian matters involving Palestinians, disputes the assessment that food supplies entering Gaza are insufficient. It maintains that aid deliveries are adequate to meet the population’s food needs and says there is no acute food insecurity in the territory.
The contrasting assessments highlight the continuing disagreement over the adequacy of food supplies and the severity of hunger in Gaza, while the WFP’s funding shortfall threatens to reduce the number of people it can assist.
THE ISSUES
The immediate concern is that fewer people will receive food assistance at a time when livelihoods, shelter and access to essential services remain severely disrupted. For households that depend on humanitarian aid, losing support could leave them with fewer options for obtaining food.
The funding gap also illustrates the vulnerability of emergency relief programmes to donor shortfalls. Even where humanitarian agencies have the capacity to distribute food, insufficient funding can force them to reduce the number of recipients or the size of individual rations.
The differing assessments by the WFP and COGAT also show that the quantity of aid entering a territory does not, on its own, resolve questions about whether food is reaching households in sufficient amounts or whether people can access it consistently.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“WFP no longer has sufficient funding to sustain this level of support.” – World Food Programme
“We have to make sure we can help bring back normalcy and dignity to people’s lives.” – Carl Skau, WFP Deputy Executive Director, speaking to the BBC
“Efforts need to be stepped up, it’s not acceptable that people are suffering the way they are.” – Carl Skau, WFP Deputy Executive Director, speaking to the BBC
WHAT’S NEXT
The WFP’s ability to maintain assistance will depend on whether it secures the $450 million it says is needed over the next six months. Without additional funding, the planned reduction in recipients could leave more families reliant on other aid providers or struggling to meet basic food needs.
Humanitarian agencies will also continue to face the challenge of ensuring that food deliveries translate into reliable access for people affected by hunger, displacement and the loss of livelihoods.
BOTTOM LINE
The WFP is reducing its planned monthly reach in Gaza from 1.6 million to 1.1 million people because of a funding shortfall. With food rations already reduced and widespread food insecurity continuing, the agency’s warning points to a growing gap between humanitarian needs and the resources available to meet them.
Sources: News Agency of Nigeria
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