UN Cuts Food Aid in Gaza and West Bank as Funding Crisis Deepens

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is cutting food assistance to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza as severe funding shortages force the agency to scale back its operations.

In the West Bank, the WFP said it would halve the number of people receiving assistance, reducing its coverage from about 400,000 to 200,000.

The cuts, which began this month, affect a range of support provided to vulnerable families, including cash payments, food vouchers, direct food assistance, livelihood programmes and nutritional services.

The agency said the reductions were unavoidable because of critical funding shortages, as humanitarian organisations around the world face growing financial pressures. The United States has sharply reduced its international aid contributions, while several other Western countries have also scaled back their funding.

The WFP estimates that approximately 900,000 people in the West Bank are currently food insecure.

Shaun Hughes, the agency's Country Director for Palestine, said the organisation was being forced to focus its limited resources on those considered most vulnerable, despite widespread humanitarian needs.

"We are prioritising the most vulnerable while cutting assistance to others despite widespread needs," Hughes said.

The funding crisis is also affecting WFP operations in Gaza, where the agency currently supports about 1.5 million people. Of that total, around one million receive food assistance each month.

Claire Nevill, a WFP spokesperson for the Palestinian territories, told The Associated Press that cash assistance had already begun to be reduced for approximately 75,000 families in Gaza.

The value of cash assistance provided to about 375,000 people in Gaza was cut by 40 percent in July, according to the agency.

The reductions come despite continuing concerns over food insecurity across the Palestinian territories. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading global authority on food insecurity assessments, reported in July that conditions in Gaza had improved from the famine situation declared in parts of the territory last year.

However, the organisation warned that food security conditions remained at crisis levels and that large numbers of people continued to face serious shortages.

The WFP said it requires an additional $386 million over the next six months to maintain assistance for approximately two million food-insecure people across Gaza and the West Bank.

Hughes urged governments and international donors to increase their financial contributions, warning that further reductions could leave vulnerable Palestinian families without essential support.

"We urge the international community to act immediately and step up support for Palestinians," he said.

The funding crisis reflects a broader deterioration in international humanitarian financing. The United Nations launched its 2026 global humanitarian appeal at only half the amount it estimated was required, despite humanitarian needs reaching unprecedented levels.

UN figures show the United States remained the largest single contributor to international humanitarian aid in 2025, even after major reductions introduced under President Donald Trump.

However, the US share of total humanitarian funding fell sharply, from more than one-third previously to 15.6 percent.

The WFP's latest cuts highlight the growing gap between humanitarian needs and the resources available to address them, leaving aid agencies increasingly reliant on a smaller pool of international donors.