The World Food Programme said Monday it would end monthly assistance to 500,000 people in Gaza due to a funding shortfall, despite acute needs in the war-battered Palestinian territory.
asserted
it → say → territory
With the cutbacks, 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza — still about half the population — will be receiving either food or cash assistance each month from the UN agency, in reduced amounts.
asserted
Palestinians → receive → amounts
The World Food Programme (WFP) said its efforts had mitigated the effects during a famine last year in Gaza and warned that conditions had not improved to the point that it can take away aid.
asserted
it → say → aid
Airstrikes continue on a daily basis.
asserted
Airstrikes → continue → basis
People continue to be displaced,” Shaun Hughes, the WFP country director, told AFP at the agency’s office in east Jerusalem.
asserted
Hughes → continue → Jerusalem
“Almost everybody remains without a permanent home to live in.
asserted
everybody → remain → home
And the humanitarian conditions are brutal,” he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
According to the latest assessments, 1.4 million people — or two-thirds of Gaza’s population — are still “acutely food insecure” and need humanitarian assistance to survive, he said.
uncertain
he → accord → assistance
In August last year, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said that Gaza was suffering famine conditions.
asserted
Gaza → say → conditions
The famine classification was lifted in December, two months after a US-brokered ceasefire was announced in Gaza.
asserted
ceasefire → lift → Gaza
Israel has kept striking Gaza since then, vowing to kill anyone involved in the October 7 attack.
asserted
Israel → strike → attack
Since the ceasefire, the WFP has been able to step up assistance and had been reaching between 1.5 million and 1.8 million people every month.
asserted
WFP → step → people
But now, rather than being able to sustain and scale up that assistance, we’re actually having to reduce it,” Hughes said.
asserted
Hughes → sustain → it
“And that’s not because we don’t have humanitarian access to deliver food; that’s because we don’t have funding.”
asserted
we → ’ → funding
In addition to reducing the number of people who receive rations, the WFP has been forced to shrink the content.
asserted
WFP → reduce → content
Families receiving food assistance will now get only one food parcel instead of two and a smaller bag of wheat flour, the WFP said in an operational note.
asserted
WFP → receive → note
The 75,000 families who receive assistance in cash will see the amount reduced from 1,250 to 750 shekels ($400 to $240) per month.
asserted
amount → receive → month
The WFP is funded by governments as well as private donors.
asserted
WFP → fund → governments
It has seen a sharp drop in resources, including after President Donald Trump returned to power in the United States and drastically slashed contributions to UN agencies as well as bilateral aid.
asserted
Trump → see → agencies
The agency says it needs about $450 million over the next six months for its operations in Gaza and the West Bank, but in 2026 it has only received about half the usual financing for the Palestinian territories.
asserted
it → say → territories
In September, the agency also reduced by half the number of aid recipients in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, from 400,000 to 200,000.
“Now is not the time in the history of Palestine and Gaza to turn away from what is happening in Gaza,” Hughes said.
asserted
Hughes → reduce → Gaza
The WFP says that conditions have moderately improved in Gaza but noted that needs could rise again with the onset of winter.
uncertain
needs → say → winter
Israel has allowed more goods into Gaza under the terms of the Trump ceasefire but still imposes heavy restrictions, turning away shipments of anything that is seen as having potential military use — a policy that has included blocking even prosthetic limbs, according to the United Nations.
uncertain
that → allow → Nations
Israel has ramped up longstanding criticism of the United Nations since the Gaza war, accusing the world body of bias and perpetuating dependency among Palestinians.
asserted
Israel → ramp → Palestinians
The Aporia
