(Antiwar.com) — Dozens of community kitchens in Gaza shut down on Thursday after running out of supplies due to the total Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory, which is starving millions of civilians.
Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) in Gaza, told Reuters that the majority of the 170 community kitchens in Gaza have already shut down, and the few remaining will soon run out of supplies.
READ: ‘Pro-life’ GOP starving 1 million children to death in Gaza, USCCB remains silent
Just a day earlier, the World Central Kitchen, a U.S.-based charity, announced it was forced to halt operations in Gaza.
The charity said that in recent weeks, its team in Gaza “stretched every remaining ingredient and fuel source using creativity and determination” but has now “reached the limits of what is possible.”
WCK field kitchens in Gaza have run out of ingredients, and its mobile bakery has run out of flour. The charity said that it has trucks loaded with food and cooking fuel ready to enter Gaza, but they are being blocked by Israel.
“Our trucks — loaded with food and supplies — are waiting in Egypt, Jordan and Israel, ready to enter Gaza,” said José Andrés, a celebrity chef who founded WCK. “But they cannot move without permission. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow.”
UN aid agencies have also said they have thousands of trucks ready to bring food into Gaza, but Israel has maintained the blockade, with U.S. backing, even as children are beginning to starve to death.
READ: Israel approves full military takeover of Gaza, plans permanent occupation and displacement
At least 11 WCK workers have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023. The most notorious attack occurred on April 1, 2024, when an Israeli drone fired missiles at three clearly marked cars carrying WCK employees, who were traveling on a route previously approved by the IDF. The attack killed seven WCK workers, including three British nationals and an American, 33-year-old Jacob Flickinger, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen who left behind a one-year-old son.
In November 2024, an Israeli attack on a car in Gaza killed three WCK workers. On March 27 of this year, the WCK said one of its volunteers was killed by a strike near a WCK kitchen in Gaza.
Reprinted with permission from Antiwar.com.
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