The agency said the number of people receiving its assistance would fall from 1.6 million to 1.1 million. The cuts will also reduce the number of hot meals distributed through community kitchens from 250,000 to 150,000 a day.
Families living in hard-to-reach areas, including locations near the so-called Yellow Line that marks Israel's area of military control, will receive meals every other day instead of daily.
Nearly all of Gaza's 2.1 million residents remain displaced, while around two-thirds of the population depend on food assistance to survive.
Mervat al-Satari, a displaced Palestinian mother of five living in a camp in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, said her family relied on the meals to eat.
"What will we do with these reduced rations? How will we provide for the little ones?" she asked, describing the cuts as a disaster.
Another displaced mother, Sawsan Bahloul, said the daily meals had helped her family manage, although the portions were already too small. She said receiving food every two days would make their situation even harder.
Shaun Hughes, the WFP's director for Palestine, said the reductions were driven by a lack of funding, not a decrease in humanitarian needs or a lack of access to people requiring assistance.
The agency has already reduced cash transfers to around half a million people since July, leaving them with less money to purchase food in local markets. Monthly distributions of flour bags and food ration boxes will also be reduced from 1.1 million recipients to 600,000.
The WFP said it had received less than half the funding for its Palestinian operations in 2026 compared with previous years. It urgently needs $450 million to maintain critical operations over the next six months.
Despite a ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas a year ago, violence has continued, including near-daily Israeli strikes. Reconstruction has not begun on a significant scale, and restrictions on the entry of goods have contributed to continuing hardship.
Although food is available in local markets, many families cannot afford to buy it. More than 80% of Gaza's population is unemployed, leaving large numbers dependent on humanitarian assistance.
Dalal al-Dahdouh, who lives with her family of eight among the ruins of their home in Gaza City, said the flour and food boxes they received were already insufficient. She fears the latest reductions will have a major impact on her family.
She recalled a time before the war when her family had a home, fresh vegetables and access to proper sanitation. Now, she said, they depend entirely on aid, including WFP vouchers.
Cooking has also become a challenge. Cooking gas is unavailable because Israeli authorities classify it as a potential dual-use item that could be used for military purposes by Hamas. With wood expensive, some families send children to collect plastic and cardboard to burn for cooking and heating food.
Hughes said many people continued to live in tents or damaged homes, with inadequate access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare. He warned that cuts to food assistance would add to the hardship families had endured for years.
Humanitarian workers have also warned that acute food insecurity remains widespread and that the risk of famine could return. In July, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported that 1.4 million people, or around two-thirds of Gaza's population, were expected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse between July and December 2026.
The WFP said it would continue supporting bakeries that supply around one-third of Gaza's bread needs, as well as providing nutritional assistance to approximately 300,000 women and children and nutritious snacks to around 200,000 children.
In the occupied West Bank, the agency continues to assist around 200,000 Palestinians after halving the number of recipients in September. It said food insecurity was increasing largely because of escalating Israeli settler violence and Palestinian displacement.
