WFP cuts food aid for 500,000 Gazans amid funding crisis and ongoing restrictions
The World Food Program (WFP) announced on Monday that it would cut monthly food assistance to approximately 500,000 Palestinians in Gaza due to funding shortages, as nearly two-thirds of the population continue to face acute food insecurity.
The agency said the number of people receiving monthly assistance would fall from 1.6 million to 1.1 million, a reduction of nearly one-third, despite continuing humanitarian needs and Israeli restrictions on supplies and recovery efforts.
WFP Acting Executive Director Carl Skau told Australia’s ABC that the cuts were driven by insufficient funding rather than declining needs or an inability to deliver food.
He cited reduced contributions from traditional donors, including the United States and European countries, alongside donor fatigue and competing international crises.
The reductions also affect those who remain eligible for assistance. Food parcels have been halved, cash support for 75,000 families has been reduced by 40%, and hot meal distributions in some hard-to-reach areas have been cut from daily to every other day.
In September, WFP warned that it needed an additional $386 million over six months to continue supporting around two million people in Gaza and the West Bank.
Skau cautioned that restrictions on the entry of goods and equipment continue to obstruct recovery, leaving improvements in food security fragile and vulnerable to reversal.
The cuts come as winter approaches, with UNICEF reporting that approximately 800,000 children remain displaced, many living in tents or damaged buildings without adequate basic services.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director-general of Gaza’s Government Media Office, condemned the decision, describing it as a “death sentence” that would accelerate famine and deepen the humanitarian crisis, particularly for children, women, patients and the elderly.
He rejected funding shortages as justification for withdrawing essential humanitarian assistance and held Israel, its international supporters and the wider international community responsible for the consequences of the use of food as a weapon against civilians.
Al-Thawabta urged WFP and the United Nations to reverse the cuts, secure the necessary funding and press for the opening of crossings. He also called for urgent land and sea relief efforts to deliver assistance to Gaza.