In brief
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) announced it will reduce the number of Gazans receiving food aid from 1.6 million to 1.1 million due to dramatic funding cuts. Daily hot meals will fall from 250,000 to 150,000, and many families will now get a meal every other day. The agency is also slashing flour and ration box distributions, mourning that the cuts arrive as the coldest winter approaches. Local mothers describe the new rations as “a disaster,” as they struggle to prepare meals with scarce cooking fuel. With two‑thirds of Gaza’s population living on aid, the cuts risk driving more into acute hunger and crisis.
One of the main suppliers of food aid to the Gaza Strip, the World Food Programme (WFP), says that it is being forced to "drastically reduce lifesaving assistance" to the Palestinian territory due to funding shortages.
Overall, the number of people helped by the UN agency will drop by about a third— from 1.6 million to 1.1 million. The cuts will hit as winter approaches and at a time when many families in Gaza are still struggling to feed themselves.
The number of hot meals currently provided by community kitchens will fall from 250,000 to 150,000 each day. Families in hard‑to‑reach areas, for example near the so‑called Yellow Line, will receive a meal every other day instead of daily.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.1 million population remains displaced and two‑thirds rely on food aid to survive. Since July, cash transfers to about half a million people have been reduced, meaning fewer can buy food locally. The number of monthly bags of flour and ration boxes given by the WFP will be cut from 1.1 million to 600,000.
The WFP received less than half as much funding for its Palestinian operations in 2026 as in previous years. The agency says it urgently needs $450 million (£338 million) to maintain critical operations over the next six months.
Families currently receiving the WFP food handouts complained that already these were insufficient and gave them little diversity in their diets. "The flour isn’t enough and the food boxes aren’t enough either," said Dalal al‑Dahdouh, who 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".
The mother draws a contrast between the current desperate situation and life before the war. "In the past, thank God, we had our own home and a wonderful life. We had fresh vegetables, proper sanitation facilities and our own land," she said. "Now we live entirely on aid, including WFP vouchers."
There is no cooking gas available in Gaza because the Israeli government considers it a "dual use" item that could be used by Hamas for military purposes. Wood is expensive, so many families send their children into the street to find plastic and cardboard to burn as fuel to make bread or heat food.
The cuts will force families to burn plastic and cardboard as fuel for cooking. "Families, including Mervat al‑Satari’s, are forced to burn plastic and cardboard as fuel for cooking," said Sawsan Bahloul.
Humanitarian workers say that, despite a modest improvement compared to a year ago, acute food insecurity and the risk of famine returning continue to loom over the territory. The Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) reported that two‑thirds of the population—in this case 1.4 million people—were expected to face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity from July to December 2026.
The WFP says it can continue supporting bakeries that provide one‑third of Gaza’s bread needs and provide nutritional assistance to about 300,000 women and children. It also delivers health food snacks to some 200,000 children. In the occupied West Bank, the WFP is continuing to give assistance to some 200,000 Palestinians, having halved the number of recipients in September. Food insecurity is rising in the West Bank largely due to increased Israeli settler violence and Palestinian displacement.
