Hunger has not
left Gaza.
A famine was declared in Gaza City in August 2025. The ceasefire pushed it back, but two thirds of the population still face crisis-level hunger, and this month the world’s largest food agency was forced to cut its aid because the money ran out.
What the UN is reporting
people (67% of Gaza) in crisis-level food insecurity or worse, per WFP
people still in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), needing immediate food aid to prevent death from hunger
people lose WFP assistance this month as support falls from 1.6M to 1.1M
cut to food rations: one food parcel instead of two, and a smaller bag of flour
children under five admitted for malnutrition treatment every month (OCHA)
children under five stunted, a sign of lasting damage to growth (UNICEF-supported survey)
Figures are from WFP, OCHA and UNICEF statements published October 2026. See sources below.
From famine to fragile
- August 2025Famine is declared in Gaza City.
- 10 October 2025A ceasefire begins. Aid and commercial food flow in again.
- December 2025The IPC finds no area in famine, but 1.6 million people (77%) are still in Crisis or worse, with over 96% of cropland unusable and unemployment near 80%.
- October 2026WFP cuts assistance by about a third and halves rations for lack of funding. Winter is coming. It needs $450 million to keep operating across Gaza and the West Bank through March 2027.
Chart: people in crisis-level food insecurity or worse, and people receiving WFP aid each month, in millions.
Gains are “fragile, perilously so.”
That was UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the ceasefire’s progress. Aid has been meeting little more than basic survival needs, and when funding falls, hunger can rise fast. Families who lost income, homes and farmland over years of war still depend on handouts to eat.
How the world can help
Give to established humanitarian organisations working in Gaza, and push governments to fund the appeal and keep aid flowing. Be wary of unfamiliar crowdfunding pages.
World Food Programme
Bakeries, food parcels, nutrition support for 300,000 women and children and school snacks. Facing a $450M gap.
Donate →- Give, even a little, regularly. Monthly gifts help agencies plan ahead through winter.
- Contact your representative. Ask them to fund humanitarian appeals and press for unimpeded, safe access for aid and commercial food.
- Share verified information. Use UN and agency sources so the facts are hard to dismiss.
- Support rebuilding. Lasting food security needs farmland, markets and jobs, not only handouts.
Send this to your representative
Disputed points
Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the December 2025 IPC report as “deliberately distorted,” saying 600–800 aid trucks enter daily and that the finding of no famine vindicated its position. The IPC defended its methodology, citing UN and Israeli data. Israel’s military body COGAT has said this month’s restrictions on goods followed merchant reports about Hamas demands, according to Al Jazeera. Aid agencies say that funding shortfalls and access controls both drive up costs and limit delivery. The core point on which the UN sources agree: food gains are real but fragile, and cuts put them at risk.
Sources
- UN News: Funding cuts leave half a million without food assistance (Oct 2026)
- WFP: Funding cuts force WFP to reduce lifesaving assistance in Gaza
- Al Jazeera: Gaza children face worsening food shortages (21 Oct 2026)
- Türkiye Today: UN food agency cuts Gaza aid by one-third
- UN: IPC report, December 2025
- UPI: Hunger watch group says Gaza is out of famine, but still critical
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