UN slashes food aid for occupied West Bank and Gaza amid funding shortfall

What Happened

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that it is halving its West Bank assistance from 400,000 people to 200,000 due to critical financing constraints. Starting this month, cash, vouchers, food, livelihood programmes and nutritional services to families in the West Bank will be cut. In Gaza, the WFP has begun reducing cash assistance to around 75,000 families, and the cash value of its assistance for 375,000 people was reduced by 40 percent in July. The agency said it needs an additional $386m over the next six months to serve around two million food-insecure people across Gaza and the West Bank. WFP Country Director for Palestine Shaun Hughes said the agency is 'prioritising the most vulnerable while cutting assistance to others despite widespread needs'. The agency estimates 900,000 people are food insecure in the West Bank and supports 1.5 million people in Gaza, including one million who receive monthly food assistance.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The cuts hit a population already facing acute food insecurity amid the ongoing Israel–Palestine conflict. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said in July that conditions in Gaza had improved since famine was declared in parts of the territory last year but remained at crisis levels. Reduced aid in both Gaza and the West Bank risks deepening hunger, destabilising an already fragile humanitarian situation, and increasing pressure on other aid actors. The US-led global funding retreat, with Western donations shrinking, signals a broader contraction of humanitarian capacity in conflict zones.

Watch For

Monitor whether the WFP secures the requested $386m for the next six months and whether further reductions to food assistance occur in Gaza or the West Bank. Watch for updated food insecurity classifications from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification and any additional US or Western donor funding decisions under the UN's 2026 appeal, which was launched at half the requested amount.