Gaza Kitchens warns food to expire in two months of Israeli blockade

Hot food is difficult to get in the Gaza Strip, but lunch for needy families to the south is about to be delivered from a donkey and a stroller.

Today’s dish is Koshari – made with lentils, rice and tomato pins – in a set of huge pots of cooking in one of the two cuisines in the community, run by American near East Beugee AID (Anera), a US -based humanitarian organization.

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

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

Two months ago, Israel closed all crossings to gas – preventing all goods, including food, fuel and medicines to enter – and later resumed its military offensive, completing a two -month termination of fire with Hamas. It says these steps aim to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages he is still holding.

Recently, the UN and UNRWA World Food Program, the Palestinian Refugee Agency, said they had used all their food supplies.

International pressure on Israel is increasing to lift its blockade, with warnings that mass fasting may be impending and that deliberately starving civilians are a war crime.

“The help and civil life it saves should never be a negotiating chip,” warned the UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher on Thursday.

“Blocking help hungry civilians. Leaves them without basic medical help. This undresses them with dignity and hope. It inflicts a cruel collective punishment. The blocking of help kills.”

Hundreds of thousands of gazan depend on several dozens of remaining maintenance kitchens. The only Aner managed by Aner in Han Enis feeds about 6,000 people a day.

But if Israel does not lift its blockade, the longest it has ever imposed on gas, the kitchens are the last rescue line for so many – they will have nothing to spread. Food preserved during the cessation of fire early this year is hardly exhausted.

“The days in the coming days will be critical. We expect that we have two weeks supply, maybe less,” says Matar, while showing a local BBC journalist around the huge, empty Aner warehouse.

“We received more than 100 trucks every week – trucks with food parcels and hygiene kits. We have nothing now.

“We are struggling to provide food such as rice, lentils, pasta, cooking oil and salt, for our kitchens in the community. It is very expensive to buy 1 kg of wood and we need over 700 kg per day for cooking.”

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing and storing humanitarian aid to give his fighters or sell to raise money. The UN and other agencies deny the aid, is diverted and they say they have strict observation mechanisms.

“We are working hard to avoid any intervention on the part of all sides. We have an accurate and strong process of distribution,” says G -H Matar, inspecting the recipients of recipients to help his computer.

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

Returning to the outdoor kitchen, d -Matar tests the food from steam pots to check its quality. The plots are wrapped for distribution; Anyone can serve up to four people.

All workers receive food for their own hungry families.

The rest is soon transferred to the donkey stroller across the busy streets to Al Mavasi, a crowded tent bearing for displaced people ashore, where dozens of field monitors control the distribution.

An elderly man who walks with crutches seems relieved as he squeezes two plots of baskets to feed his family from seven. “Thank goodness, that will be enough,” he says.

“Don’t even ask me about the situation,” he continues. “We are alive only because death has not yet taken us. I swear I was looking for bread in the morning and I didn’t find anyone.”

“The situation is tragic and continues to get worse,” said a tired mother. “Life is humiliating here. We have men who can’t work. There is no income and all the products are so expensive. We can’t buy something.”

“At that time, this is great,” she says of a warm meal, which is just given. “Because there is no cooking gas, no food. When we want to drink a cup of tea, I collect leaves to start a fire.”

It has been more than a year and a half since the beginning of the Gaza war caused by the attacks led by Hamas against South Israel. This attack died about 1,200 people and over 250 people were taken hostage. About 59 are still held captive, with up to 24 of those who are thought to be alive.

Israel’s military campaign died over 52,400 people in Gaza, mainly women, children and the elderly, according to the Hamas Health Ministry. More than 90% of the 2.1 million population has been displaced – with many forced to flee many times.

The UN warned that the current situation “is probably the worst that is” due to the blockade, the updated offensive orders and evacuation, which have displaced about 500,000 people since March 18.

International pressure on Israel is increasing to raise its blockade with warnings that deliberately starving civilians are a potential war crime. The UN says that Israel has a clear obligation under international law as an occupation right to allow and facilitate the help of Gazani.

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

There was no official answer to this, but earlier during the week, the Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected criticism from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which defines the blockade as “impatient” in a joint statement and insisted “this should end.”

The ministry said over 25,000 trucks carrying nearly 450,000 tonnes of goods have entered Gaza during the ceasefire. He added: “Israel monitors the situation on the spot and has no shortage of help.”

Israeli officials have indicated that they are planning to repair the aid distribution system.

So far, deliveries are accumulated on the border crossings of the gas, which are waiting to be imported while they are in the territory, the workers who carefully help what is left of their stocks.

At the Al Mavasi camp, children gather playfully around Sami Matar and Aner’s workers who distribute the last of the food plots to the day.

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

“I don’t know what happens if our deliveries are over,” says G -n Matar, weighed by the responsibility of his work.

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

“We have an emergency appeal,” he continues. “Look at us, look at your despair, find out that the weather is running out. Please, we just have to open the crossings again.”