WFP is cutting Gaza food assistance by one-third, leaving 500,000 people without monthly aid.
Why it matters: The cuts could deepen Gaza's humanitarian crisis as winter approaches and food insecurity remains widespread. WFP also needs more than £300 million over six months for critical programmes across Palestine.
- WFP reduced its monthly Gaza assistance target from 1.6 million people to 1.1 million.
- The cuts affect ration boxes, food-purchase cash assistance and hot meals.
- An IPC projection says 1.4 million people, or 67% of Gaza's population, will face Crisis-level food insecurity or worse between July and December 2026.
- WFP says it needs more than £300 million over six months for critical programmes across Palestine.
The United Nations World Food Programme said on October 19, 2026, that funding shortages had forced it to reduce food assistance in Gaza by around one-third, leaving approximately 500,000 people without monthly assistance. WFP said recent gains in food security remained fragile as winter approached.
The agency lowered its monthly assistance target from approximately 1.6 million people to 1.1 million, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. The cutbacks affect ration boxes, cash assistance for food purchases and hot meals served through community kitchens, The Guardian reported.
“Funding shortages have forced us to reduce food assistance in Gaza by around one-third,” WFP said.
Separately, WFP said it needs more than £300 million over six months for critical programmes across Palestine. That broader request is distinct from the reduction in Gaza's monthly assistance target.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment projected that more than 1.4 million people, or 67% of Gaza's population, would face Crisis-level acute food insecurity or worse between July and December 2026. About 212,000 people were projected to remain in Emergency-level food insecurity, one phase below Famine.
The 67% figure is a forward projection from an assessment released in July, not a real-time October measurement. IPC Phase 3 is Crisis, Phase 4 is Emergency and Phase 5 is Catastrophe/Famine.
Shaun Hughes, WFP's representative and country director for Palestine, said the gains were “very fragile, easily reversed” and that the situation remained brutal. WFP said it also faces volatile humanitarian access and high costs for transport, storage and supplies.
“We need to invest in recovery,” Hughes said. “This humanitarian operation isn't affordable or sustainable in the long term.”
By the numbers
- 1.1 million - WFP's new monthly Gaza assistance target, down from 1.6 million
- 67% - Share of Gaza's population projected to face Crisis-level food insecurity or worse between July and December 2026
- £300 million - WFP's funding need over six months for critical programmes across Palestine
Yes, but: The 67% food insecurity figure is a July forward projection for July through December 2026, not a real-time October measurement.