Gaza: World Food Program cuts aid by a third

Apparently due to funding gaps, the World Food Program is significantly reducing aid to people in Gaza

The World Food Program is lacking funds. The USA and Germany in particular have drastically reduced their support. This now has consequences for the people who live in the Gaza Strip.

The World Food Program (WFP) is drawing consequences from lost revenue. According to the program, this now has an impact on people in need in the Gaza Strip.

Around half a million Palestinians in the war-torn area are no longer receiving aid, according to a statement. The reason for the reduction in food aid by around a third is financing gaps. As of this month, the UN organization is still supporting 1.1 million people.

Since the beginning of the ceasefire agreement in October 2025, it has previously provided around 1.6 million Palestinians with food parcels, bread and cash every month. “WFP no longer has sufficient funding to maintain this level of aid,” the organization continues.

Even those who continued to receive support now receive less help. The organization has cut food rations by half. Hot meals would now also be distributed less frequently.

The WFP had already reported a lack of funding in March 2025. According to information on the WFP website, the UN organization only received $1.57 billion in funding until March 24, 2025. For the entire year 2024, the WFP received $9.75 billion. The WFP did not blame individual countries at the time. However, a breakdown on the WFP website showed that the USA and Germany, for example, had drastically cut their aid.

According to WFP information, around 67 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip suffers from acute hunger "or worse." The IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) initiative, which monitors food crises around the world, no longer sees the area as being affected by famine. Nevertheless, the population of the Gaza Strip is severely affected by acute malnutrition and food insecurity.

The Israeli authority Cogat, which is responsible for Palestinian affairs, emphasizes that the amount of aid deliveries exceeds the nutritional needs of the population. There is no acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip.

More people around the world are hungry than they have been for a long time, and at the same time wealthy countries are helping less and less. Last November, the deputy head of the UN World Food Program explained why this is also Germany's fault: Read the SPIEGEL interview here.