Less money for the World Food Program: UN has to cut food aid in Gaza immensely

epd | Due to international funding cuts, the World Food Program can only support around half of the people in the Gaza Strip. Shortly before the start of winter, that was around half a million fewer people in need than last year, the UN organization announced on Monday in Rome.

To date, the WFP has provided 1.6 million children, women and men with food parcels, flour, bread, warm meals and school meals. From now on, the WFP can only help 1.1 million people. The WFP has also cut food rations by half. According to the information, families who receive food aid only receive one food package instead of two and a smaller bag of wheat flour. In total, there are just over two million people living in the Gaza Strip, almost all of whom need help.

The number of hot meals provided by WFP has been reduced from 250,000 to 150,000 per day. Families living in hard-to-reach areas, including near the “yellow line” of Israeli military control, will now receive a hot meal every other day instead of every day, according to the WFP. The WFP also cut the value of cash assistance for 75,000 families.

The USA, Germany and other wealthy countries had, in some cases, drastically restricted their donations for international humanitarian aid. According to its own information, the WFP needs around 450 million US dollars for aid in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank over the next six months. But according to a spokesman, the program has so far only received 40 percent of what is needed for the entire year 2026. In addition, Israel is largely blocking aid to the Gaza Strip, which makes it even more difficult for aid organizations to support the population.