WFP cuts Gaza food aid for 500,000 Palestinians

World Food Programme cut monthly Gaza food aid to 1.1 million people from 1.6 million, the UN agency said on Monday, according to a Deutsche Welle report published Oct. 19.

The reduction removes support for about 500,000 people while WFP says about two-thirds of Gaza’s population is struggling to get food; the Oct. 19 report said the agency needs $450 million over six months.

The cuts affect several forms of assistance. WFP said rations are being halved, cash support has been cut for about 75,000 families, and hot meals for people unable to cook have been reduced to 150,000 from 250,000.

“WFP no longer has sufficient funding to sustain this level of support,” the organization said, according to the Deutsche Welle report.

The agency says 1.4 million people in Gaza face crisis levels of food insecurity, a term used for unreliable access to sufficient food, while 200,000 are in emergency conditions. The cuts come as winter approaches and the conflict has not reached a final settlement.

Carl Skau, acting executive director of the World Food Programme, told Reuters in Gaza that the ceasefire agreed last year had not restored normal living conditions. “It's a year into the agreement of this ceasefire. Well, life is still brutal here.

There is no proper shelter. There is no ⁠basic ​services. There is no safety, no security,” he said.

“These cuts are happening ​just as we are facing the fourth winter. You know, I've been through the winters here, absolutely brutal,” Skau said.

Deutsche Welle reported that a U.S.-brokered ceasefire came into effect last year, but Israeli strikes have continued, aid access has stayed restricted and there has been limited movement toward a final end to the conflict.

WFP had already announced reductions in assistance for the West Bank in early September, citing funding gaps and donor fatigue, according to the report. The agency’s new appeal covers Gaza and the West Bank for the next six months.

Israel’s COGAT, the authority responsible for Palestinian territories, disputes the scale of the food crisis. Deutsche Welle reported that COGAT says aid deliveries into Gaza exceed demand and claims there is no acute food insecurity in the territory.