World Food Programme Faces Funding Crisis, Slashing Aid for 500,000 in Gaza

The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Monday a significant reduction in aid for approximately half a million individuals in Gaza, citing a critical funding shortfall. These cuts are particularly concerning as winter approaches and recent gains in food security remain precarious.

Carl Skau, acting executive director of WFP, emphasized that the decision is solely due to insufficient funding, not a decrease in needs or operational capacity. "This is not because the needs are going down, and it's not because we aren't able to bring in the food," Skau stated. "This is only because we have less funding." He described the conditions in Gaza as "absolutely brutal," revealing that WFP requires $450 million to support those in need over the next six months.

Skau painted a grim picture of life in Gaza, where residents endure "flimsy makeshift shelters, or their destroyed homes among sewage and piles of garbage." He added, "They line up with buckets at water trucks to get the clean water they need for the day. There are no jobs, no way of making an income." Historically, WFP has been a lifeline for up to 90% of families in Gaza over the past three years, and since the October 2025 ceasefire, it has been reaching about 1.6 million people monthly with food assistance. The organization also supports approximately 80% of bakeries in the enclave.

The impending funding cuts mean that hundreds of thousands will lose access to these vital services. "We will do our best to prioritise those in most need – this is not an easy exercise," Skau commented, noting that aid will likely be concentrated on the sick, children at risk of malnutrition, and those whose safety is compromised and who are frequently displaced.

A pervasive sense of hopelessness is reportedly growing in Gaza, with UN teams documenting up to 50 air strikes and other attacks daily over the past week. "People are beginning to lose hope. There was hope at the start of the ceasefire, still also in January, February, that things would change for the better ... and I think now there is this sense of a standstill," Skau shared, adding that many individuals feel "forgotten by everyone."

The situation in the West Bank is also deteriorating, particularly concerning Israeli settler violence, which has escalated significantly in recent months. The annual olive harvest has become a focal point for confrontations between settlers and Palestinian farmers. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled) reported an average of 39 incidents per day between October 1 and October 9, a notable increase from approximately 20 per day in September. This surge in violence coincides with planned settlement expansion in the West Bank, with the government approving new settlements and legalizing numerous outposts. Skau highlighted that settler attacks in the past two weeks have already surpassed the total number of attacks recorded for the entirety of the previous year.

"This used to be a human rights and protection crisis – and primarily it's still a human rights and protection crisis – but it's now also becoming a hunger crisis because food insecurity has more than doubled in the last three years," Skau explained. "Almost a million Palestinians now need food assistance, and yet also in the West Bank, we are now forced to cut back."