Gaza Genocideupdated 1h ago2 min read
World Food Programme Cuts Gaza Food Aid For 500,000 Palestinians Amid Funding Shortages
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WFP suspends monthly food aid for about 500,000 Gaza residents due to funding shortfall. Total beneficiaries reduced from 1.6 million to 1.1 million as funds run short.
32 outlets told this the same way.
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WFP cuts, 500,000 lose
The UN World Food Programme announced major cuts to its Gaza response, leaving about 500,000 people without monthly food support as funding shortages force the agency to reduce assistance. The WFP said it was cutting the number of people receiving monthly assistance in Gaza from 1.6 million to 1.1 million, while rations were cut from two food parcels per family to one and bags of flour were made smaller. The WFP also reduced hot meals from 250,000 a day to 150,000 a day, and it said families in hard-to-reach areas near the “yellow line” would receive a hot meal every other day instead of daily.
WFP acting executive director Carl Skau told ABC News that he was “really worried that we're … cutting assistance to half a million people,” as the cuts take effect into winter. The WFP said it urgently needs a further $450 million over the next six months to maintain critical operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Cash, flour, and meals
The WFP said it would reduce the value of cash assistance by 40 per cent for 75,000 families, with the agency warning that the cuts would have consequences for hunger. The WFP said it would also reduce the number of hot meals provided to Palestinians in more difficult-to-reach areas, including near the yellow line that borders areas under Israeli military control, dropping from daily to every other day. The WFP country director for the Palestinian territories, Shawn Hughes, told AFP that “As of this month, we have to strike half a million people from the total we assist.”
The BBC reported that the WFP cuts would reduce hot meals from 250,000 to 150,000 each day and would mean families near the Yellow Line would receive a meal every other day instead of daily. The BBC also quoted WFP Palestine director Shaun Hughes saying the cuts were being made “because of finances” and “not because the needs are coming down, or because we don't have access - do.”
Human impact and fragile gains
Palestinian families described the WFP cuts as a direct threat to feeding children, with Mervat al-Satari telling the BBC, “It's a disaster! What will we do with these reduced rations? How will we provide for the little ones?”
“It's a disaster! What will we do with these reduced rations?”
Sawsan Bahloul told the BBC that “The daily aid was somehow ticking the box but now it will be every two days,” and she said the portions from the community kitchen were already too small to feed her family.
Carl Skau warned Reuters that “These cuts are happening just as we are facing the fourth winter,” and he said “life is still brutal here” with “There is no safety, no security.”
The WFP said it had mitigated the famine Gaza experienced last year, but it warned that conditions had not improved enough to justify stopping aid.
The WFP said the improvement in food security “remains modest and fragile,” and it warned that cutting humanitarian aid could lead to a sharp rise in food needs.