The United Nations World Food Programme has announced that insufficient funding is forcing major reductions in its Gaza operations, leaving roughly 500,000 people without monthly food support in a territory where two-thirds of residents already struggle to secure enough to eat.

The agency is lowering the number of people receiving regular monthly assistance from 1.6 million to 1.1 million.

Food rations have been cut in half, cash support has been reduced for 75,000 families, and daily hot meals for those unable to cook have dropped from 250,000 to 150,000, with some families in remote areas now receiving a hot meal only every other day.

The WFP reports that about 1.4 million people, or two-thirds of Gaza's population, face crisis levels of food insecurity or worse, including around 200,000 people in emergency conditions.

'Life is still brutal here'

Last year's US-brokered ceasefire agreement for Gaza calls for eventual reconstruction of the territory. Yet little headway has been made on implementing a deal to end the conflict that includes provisions for Hamas to disarm and for Israeli troops to withdraw.

"It is a year into the agreement of this ceasefire. Well, life is still brutal here. There is no proper shelter. There is no basic services. There is no safety, no security," acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme Carl Skau told Reuters in Gaza.

"These cuts are happening just as we are facing the fourth winter. You know, I have been through the winters here, absolutely brutal," he added.

The WFP said it urgently needs 450 million dollars over the next six months to keep critical operations running in Gaza and the West Bank.

"We tell the world now is this is not the time to look away. This is the time to step up to sustain this support, to protect the progress that has been made, but also to push for early recovery," said Skau.