The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced major reductions to its humanitarian operations in Gaza on Monday, October 19, citing severe funding shortages that will leave approximately 500,000 Palestinians without monthly food assistance.
The cuts come as roughly two-thirds of Gaza's population faces crisis levels of food insecurity or worse, threatening recent improvements in humanitarian conditions.
The WFP said monthly food assistance would decline from 1.6 million recipients to 1.1 million, while family rations would be halved from two food parcels to one, alongside smaller flour allocations.
Daily hot meals will decrease from 250,000 to 150,000, while families in hard-to-reach areas, including near the Israeli military's yellow line, will receive meals every other day instead of daily.
Cash assistance has also been withdrawn from 75,000 families.
The agency said its Palestine operation received less than half its previous annual funding in 2026 and urgently requires an additional $450 million to sustain critical operations across Gaza and the occupied West Bank over the next six months.
Funding shortages had already forced the WFP to halve assistance in the West Bank in September, reducing recipients from 400,000 to 200,000.
Approximately 1.4 million Palestinians face acute food insecurity, including around 200,000 experiencing emergency conditions.
Although the overall figure has declined from 1.6 million at the end of 2025, the WFP warned that improvements remain fragile.
UN estimates indicate that more than 80 percent of Gaza's population is unemployed, while only one in five children consumes a sufficiently diverse diet.
WFP acting Executive Director Carl Skau warned that deteriorating living conditions and approaching winter would compound the humanitarian crisis.
The reductions come despite last year's US-brokered ceasefire, with limited progress toward reconstruction, Israeli withdrawal and Hamas disarmament.
Israeli forces continue to control more than 60 percent of Gaza, while much of the displaced population remains in temporary shelters.
Gaza's government media office warned that the reductions could accelerate famine and called for increased international funding.