Gaza Keukens warn food that is on Israeli blockade after two months

A hot meal is hard to find in the Gaza Strip, but a lunch for needy families in the south is about to be delivered by donkey and cart.

Today’s dish is Koshari – made with lentils, rice and a spicy tomato sauce – in a series of huge cooking pots in one of the two community kitchens run by American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), an American humanitarian organization.

“People trust our meals; they have no source of income to buy what remains in the local markets and many foods are not available,” says Sami Matar, who leads the Anera team.

“In the past we cook rice with meat – with proteins. Now, because of the closure, there is no kind of meat, no fresh vegetables.”

Two months ago, Israel closed all crossings to Gaza – prevent all goods, including food, fuel and medicines, coming in his military offensive – later an end of a cease – the two -month -with -half -fire with Hamas. It said that these steps were meant to put Hamas under pressure to release the hostages that it still contains.

Recently the World Food Program of the UN and UNRWA, the Agency for Palestinian refugees, said that they had used up all their stocks of food aid.

There is a growing international pressure on Israel to lift its blockade, with warnings that massive hunger can be on hands and that deliberately starving citizens is a war crime.

“Help, and the citizens who manage it should never be a negotiating ship,” warned the UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, Thursday.

“Blocking assistance hunges citizens. It leaves them without medical basic support. It fights them of dignity and hope. It brings a cruel collective punishment. Blocking assistance.”

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans depend on a few dozen remaining kitchens for food. The person run by Anera in Khan Younis feeds around 6,000 people a day.

But if Israel does not cancel his blockade, by far the longest it has ever imposed on Gaza, the kitchens – a last lifeline for so many – will soon have nothing to spread. Food in stock while ceases -the fire at the beginning of this year is almost finished.

“In the coming days will be crucial. We expect that we have two weeks of stock, perhaps less,” says Mr. Matar, showing a local BBC journalist around the vast, empty anera warehouse.

“We used to receive more than 100 trucks every week – trucks with food packages and hygiene kits. Now we have nothing.

“We have difficulty offering food such as rice, lentils, pasta, cooking oil and salt, for our community kitchens. It is very expensive to buy 1 kg of wood and we need more than 700 kg per day to cook.”

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing and storing humanitarian aid to give or sell to his hunters to raise money. The UN and other agencies deny that the help has been redirected and say they have strict monitoring mechanisms.

“We are working hard to prevent the interference of parties. We have a accurate and strong distribution process,” says Mr. Matar, inspecting lists with auxiliary reductions on his computer.

“We have a database of hundreds of thousands of people, including their names, ID numbers and addresses-the coordinates of the camps. This avoids duplication with the work of other non-governmental organizations and provides transparency.”

Back in the outdoor kitchen, MR Matar tests eating the steaming pots to check the quality. Packages are packed for distribution; Each can serve a maximum of four people.

All employees receive food for their own hungry families.

The rest is soon transferred to the donkeywart through the bustling streets to Al-Mawasi, a busy tent camp for displaced people on the coast, where dozens of field monitors supervise the handout.

An older man who walks with crutches looks relieved while connecting two Koshari packages to feed his family of seven. “Thank good, this will be enough,” he says.

“Don’t even ask me about the situation,” he continues. “We only live because death has not received us yet. I swear that since the morning I had been looking for a bread from bread and I have not found one.”

“The situation is tragic and continues to deteriorate,” notes a tired looking mother. “Life is humiliating here. We have men who are unable to work. There is no income and all products are so expensive. We can’t buy anything.”

“At the moment this is excellent,” she says about the hot meal she has just received. “Because there is no cooking gas, no food. If we want to have a cup of tea, I collect leaves to start a fire.”

It is now more than a year and a half ago that the war in Gaza started, caused by the attacks led by Hamas on southern Israel. That attack killed around 1,200 people and more than 250 people were held hostage. About 59 are still being imprisoned, with a maximum of 24 of those who believed they are alive.

The military campaign of Israel has killed more than 52,400 people in Gaza, mainly women, children and the elderly, according to the Hamas-Runned Health Minister. More than 90% of the 2.1 million population is displaced – with many forced to flee several times.

The UN has warned that the current situation “is probably the worst that it was” due to the blockade, the renewed offensive and evacuation commitments that have moved around 500,000 people since March 18.

There is a growing international pressure on Israel to lift his blockade, with warnings that deliberately starving citizens is a potential war crime. The UN says that Israel has a clear obligation under international law as an occupancy to allow and facilitate help for Gazans.

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump said that he had told the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu that “we should be good for Gaza” and pushed him to allow more food and medicines in the comic.

There was no official response to that, but earlier in the week the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the criticism of the UK, France and Germany, which described the blockade as “unbearable” in a joint statement and insisting: “This must end.”

The ministry said that more than 25,000 trucks with nearly 450,000 tons of goods had arrived during the ceasefiring. It added: “Israel follows the situation on the spot and there is no shortage of help.”

Israeli officials have indicated that they intend to revise the aid distribution system.

For the time being, stocks are piling up at Gaza’s border crossings that are waiting to be brought in, while within the territory, care providers carefully rationing what is left of their stock.

In the Al-Mawasi camp, children gather playfully around Sami Matar and the anera employees who express the last of the day of the day.

Many are painfully thin, with new warnings for acute malnutrition in Gaza – especially among young people.

“I don’t know what will happen if our stocks end,” says Mr. Matar, weighed by the responsibility of his work.

“The feeling of stopping this essential help to people would be so stressful and depressing for me and my staff.”

“We have an urgent profession,” he continues. “Look at us, see our despair, understand that there is time.