UN food agency cuts Gaza food aid for about 500,000 people over funding shortfall

Summary

The UN World Food Programme says a funding shortfall is forcing it to cut food aid to roughly half a million people in Gaza, and that the cuts do not reflect declining need. About 1.4 million people in Gaza face acute food insecurity, and hundreds of thousands depend on assistance for basic needs. An editorial in The National argues that a ceasefire is not the same as peace and that leaving Gaza in permanent uncertainty is no alternative to a political settlement. It cites a warning from Nickolay Mladenov, high representative of Gaza's Board of Peace, that despair is an excellent recruiting tool for extremism. Africanews reports that the UN has had to slash food assistance because of funding shortages, deepening food insecurity for thousands of families. The editorial notes that Israeli voters face a closely contested general election next week, and that some Palestinians in Gaza have postponed marriages, rebuilding and restarting businesses while waiting to see whether a new Israeli government changes policy.

Timeline

1. The National

   22 Oct 2026, 00:01 UTCSource ↗

   Its editorial says the WFP's funding-driven cuts to aid for about half a million people in Gaza show that a ceasefire is not peace, and warns that despair fuelled by such hardship could drive extremism ahead of Israel's general election.

2. Africanews

   22 Oct 2026, 12:48 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that the United Nations has had to slash food assistance to Gaza because of funding shortages, deepening food insecurity for thousands of families who rely on aid to survive.