UN Food Agency Cuts Gaza Aid to 500,000 People Amid Funding Crisis
The UN World Food Programme announced it is reducing food assistance to 500,000 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank due to a severe funding shortfall, partly caused by US cuts to UN contributions. Rations for those still receiving aid will be halved, and daily hot meals will fall from 250,000 to 150,000.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced on October 19, 2026 that it would cut food assistance to roughly 500,000 Palestinians due to a critical funding shortage. In Gaza, the agency will support 1.1 million people rather than the previous 1.6 million; in the West Bank, the number drops from 400,000 to 200,000. Families still receiving aid will get one food parcel instead of two, effectively halving their rations. The number of daily hot meals distributed across Gaza falls from 250,000 to 150,000. The WFP said its resources had fallen sharply in part because US President Donald Trump's administration drastically reduced US contributions to UN agencies. The agency stated it urgently requires USD 450 million to maintain critical operations in Gaza and the West Bank from October 2026 through March 2027. The WFP noted that since a ceasefire was announced in October 2025, it had been reaching around 1.6 million people monthly and that its food assistance had provided a lifeline for up to 90 percent of families in Gaza over the past three years.
