The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that a severe decline in humanitarian funding is forcing deep cuts to its operations in Gaza, putting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people at risk of hunger. The agency, which has provided a vital lifeline for up to 90 percent of families in Gaza over the past three years, is facing a critical resource shortage that threatens to undo the modest progress achieved since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas fighters.

Following that agreement, humanitarian teams successfully scaled up deliveries, reaching approximately 1.6 million people monthly with essential food parcels, wheat flour, bread, hot meals, nutrition support, school snacks, and cash assistance. However, the WFP has cautioned that these gains remain highly fragile and are already being reversed as funding dries up.

Scaling Back the Lifeline: The Extent of the Cuts

This month, the WFP has been forced to reduce the number of people it supports in the war-torn enclave to 1.1 million, down from the 1.6 million reached in September. The reduction in aid is being felt across multiple critical programs:

  • Rations have been cut in half, meaning families will now receive one food parcel instead of two, and a smaller bag of wheat flour.
  • The value of cash assistance given to 75,000 families has also been reduced.
  • The number of hot meals provided daily across Gaza will drop from 250,000 to 150,000.
  • Families living in hard-to-reach areas, including near the “yellow line” of Israeli military control, will receive a hot meal every other day instead of daily.

Despite these severe reductions, the WFP is attempting to maintain several core operations for the time being. The agency continues to support bakeries that cover a third of Gaza’s bread needs, provide nutrition assistance to 300,000 women and children, and deliver healthy school snacks to 200,000 students. However, the sustainability of these remaining programs remains highly uncertain without immediate financial intervention.

Fragile Gains and Crisis-Level Hunger

The funding crisis comes at an exceptionally difficult time for Gaza, where the economic and social infrastructure has been devastated. More than 80 percent of the population is currently unemployed, leaving the vast majority of families entirely unable to afford fresh produce or protein-rich foods, even when such items are physically available in local markets.

Currently, roughly 67 percent of Gazans—representing an estimated 1.4 million people—are experiencing acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse. While this figure represents a modest improvement from the 77 percent recorded at the end of 2025, the WFP emphasizes that this progress is fragile. Furthermore, some 200,000 people remain trapped in emergency conditions, requiring immediate food assistance to prevent them from dying from hunger.

The nutritional crisis is particularly acute among the youngest residents. Currently, only one in five children in Gaza consumes a sufficiently diverse diet. This systemic lack of nutrition is compounded by limited access to healthcare and other essential services, creating a compounding public health emergency.

The Funding Gap and Regional Impact

As winter approaches, the WFP stresses that additional resources are urgently required to sustain emergency food assistance, provide critical engineering support, and prevent widespread malnutrition among young children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.

The financial outlook for the agency's operations in Palestine in 2026 is exceptionally bleak, with funding amounting to less than half of what was received in previous years. To maintain its critical operations in both Gaza and the West Bank through March, the WFP urgently requires $450 million.

The funding shortfall is not isolated to Gaza. The WFP noted that its operations in the West Bank have also been severely impacted. In September, the number of people receiving assistance in the West Bank was cut by half, falling from 400,000 to 200,000. Without a rapid influx of international donor funding, the humanitarian crisis across the Palestinian territories is poised to deepen significantly in the coming months.