Community kitchen chef serving 5,000 people a day in Gaza says food could run out in a week
The people of Gaza are starving. It is now estimated that more than a fifth of the total population of more than 2 million people face starvation and around half are on the brink of famine. 57 children have already died from lack of food and a further 10,000 children required medical treatment for malnutrition.
For weeks, more than 3,000 aid trucks packed full of food have been blocked by Isael from entering Gaza. Now, Israel have announced they “will allow a basic quantity of food to be brought in for the population.” But it is clear that a basic quantity won’t be enough to prevent famine taking hold.
Christian Aid’s local partner in Gaza – who have asked us not to name them out of fear of reprisals - runs a community kitchen in a tented camp for displaced people in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, an area once again pummelled by air strikes in recent days. This community kitchen provides the only meal eaten each day by up to 5,000 people in the local area.
The community kitchen relies on food supplies stockpiled during the ceasefire and what little now remains in the market, though most foodstuffs are prohibitively expensive. Unless aid supplies are able to flood Gaza, and fast, the kitchen is likely to run out of food within the next week. The UN estimates there are only around 65 community kitchens still operating in Gaza after a lack of supplies forced the closure of more than 115 since the end of April.
Christian Aid has heard from chef Khaled (not his real name) about the difficulties he faces making meagre supplies stretch as much as possible to feed the thousands of hungry people in his area.
Like nearly everyone else in Gaza, Khaled and his family have been displaced many times by the war and suffered immense loss. Three of his nieces were tragically killed when a shell fired by an Israeli tank struck the apartment block where Khaled and his extended family lived, prompting Khaled and his family to flee.
Despite these overwhelming challenges Khaled continues to do all he can to help people in his community.
This is what Khaled told Christian Aid:
"I've been a chef for a long time. As well as a job, it's also become a humanitarian mission.
"During the ceasefire we cooked one, main hot meal daily, and sometimes we distributed canned food for breakfast and dinner. The food was varied, with weekly meals containing meat, chicken, and fresh vegetables.
"But food now consists of just rice, lentils, pasta, soups, and beans. Meat and chicken are not available at all, and we only use vegetables when we get them. There is not enough flour for bread. We add rice to vegetable soup to make it more filling.
"There are two chefs at the community kitchen and we also have support from volunteers. We fill the pots with fresh water, chop wood and light the stoves. Then we begin cooking, stirring the food well until it is cooked. We prepare 10 to 12 large pots of food per day, enough to feed up to 5,000 people from our shelter and neighbouring camps.
Our warehouse does not have more than a week's supply of food left. Once this runs out, the kitchen will stop providing daily meals. Our kitchen often provides the only meal a day that people are able to eat. This means that 5,000 people will lose their only source of food. People will literally starve.
"There is constant fear of bombing. The bombing is everywhere. There is no safe place, and people are afraid even while waiting for food, especially after the ceasefire collapsed. We became even more afraid after community kitchens in other areas of the Gaza Strip were bombed.
"Since the blockade, people's health has really deteriorated. You can see clearly that people have lost weight. Malnutrition has left them emaciated, with weak bones and very tired. People are starving.
"A large part of our home was destroyed by shelling in an attack on our building that killed three of my nieces. My daughter and son were both hit with shrapnel. When we were able to return to our home [in June], we repaired a room and the bathroom and covered it with tarpaulin. I live there with my family, my parents my brother's wife and her two sons. My brother’s fate is still unknown.
"We need a ceasefire. We need the crossings to open. People are exhausted and collapsing every day. Save us before it's too late."
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