WFP cuts West Bank food aid by half as Gaza health concerns grow

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced on September 1, 2026, that it is halving food assistance to families in the West Bank due to a lack of funding, cutting off critical support for some 200,000 people. WFP Country Director Shaun Hughes cited intensified settler violence, Israeli military operations, movement restrictions, demolitions, and displacement as factors worsening food insecurity. Nearly one million people in the West Bank are now food insecure, up from 11% two years ago. Meanwhile, in Gaza, WFP reduced cash assistance to 75,000 families in July, and WHO officials warn of a catastrophic water situation, with microbiological contamination nearly tripling since January and acute watery diarrhoea cases nearly doubling from 30,000 in March to 58,000 in August. WHO also noted that over 6,600 people require long-term care after amputations, but no prosthetics have entered Gaza since May 2024. WFP requires $386 million to avoid further reductions over the next six months.