World · 2026-10-19 · Morning briefing

WFP slashes Gaza food aid, citing $450m shortfall

The World Food Programme is drastically reducing aid in Gaza due to a funding crisis. The number of people receiving assistance will fall by a third, from 1.6 million to 1.1 million. Daily hot meals provided by community kitchens will be cut from 250,000 to 150,000, and monthly flour and ration box recipients will drop from 1.1 million to 600,000.

The cuts come as nearly all of Gaza's 2.1 million residents are displaced, unemployment exceeds 80%, and two-thirds of the population rely on aid. The WFP says it urgently needs $450m to maintain operations for the next six months. The agency's Palestine director confirmed the reductions are purely financial, stating they are "not because the needs are coming down, or because we don't have access - we do."

These reductions follow earlier cuts, including a halving of aid recipients in the occupied West Bank in September. In July, the Integrated Phase Classification, a global food security monitor, forecast that 1.4 million people in Gaza would face "crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity" between July and December 2026.

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• UN slashes food aid for occupied West Bank and Gaza amid funding shortfall
• UN World Food Programme slashes assistance in Gaza amid funding shortfalls

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