In brief
The World Food Programme reports a sudden funding shortfall that will slash aid for Gaza from 1.6m to 1.1m people. Winter is approaching, further threatening food security. Community kitchens will drop hot meals from 250,000 to 150,000 a day, with remote families receiving them every other day. Families already say rations are insufficient and fear the cuts will deepen the crisis. The WFP urgently needs $450m to sustain critical operations over the next six months.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced a drastic reduction in aid to the Gaza Strip, blaming a shortfall in funding that could leave 1.1 million people without food support during the coming months.
Aid will fall from 1.6 million to 1.1 million recipients – a one‑third cut – just as winter threatens to exacerbate an already dire food crisis.
Community kitchens that provide 250,000 hot meals a day will shrink to 150,000, meaning families in hard‑to‑reach areas near the Yellow Line will receive food only every other day.
“We already receive only one meal a day, and the portion is too small,” says Dalal al‑Dahdouh. “Now it will be even less.”
The WFP states that the cuts are due to financial constraints, not diminished need, and that fuel shortages for cooking are already forcing families to burn plastic and cardboard to heat food.
The agency urgently requires $450m to keep essential services, including bakeries that supply a third of Gaza's bread, running for the next six months.
Amid ongoing Israeli air strikes and a blockade that limits goods, over 80% of Gaza's 2.1m residents rely on aid, with many living in camps and tents.
While the WFP can still support some nutritional programmes for 300,000 children and women, the looming feed‑insufficiency risks pushing Gaza back toward famine levels this year.
