WASHINGTON (7News) — Officials from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) told media on Tuesday that they have provided more than 50 million meals to residents of the Gaza Strip, but that food supplies in the northern region remain a challenge as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
The humanitarian nonprofit, founded by Washington DC-based chef José Andrés, said it was steadily providing 250,000 meals a day to residents through 70 community kitchens and two main kitchens in Deir al-Balah and Mawashi.
Officials said there are no WCK-supported kitchens in the northern part of the territory and it would be difficult to provide cooked meals for convoys already on their way to the area.
“We may be reaching out to some of these organisations to see if we can donate food to the north because obviously we want to help in any way we can,” said John Torpey, WCK's Middle East operations manager. “If we have the resources to do that, we would love to be part of the convoy up north.”
A month after resuming operations, the need for aid in the war-torn region is growing after an Israeli missile strike killed seven volunteers. WCK has since named their kitchen Mawashi, after one of the victims, Damian Sobol.
The agency currently has three main kitchens and plans to open a fourth soon, but the Rafa kitchen is not yet operational, officials said.
“Our founder Jose says the decision to resume school feeding in Gaza was both the hardest and simplest decision we could have made. Our mission is to be the first to be on the frontline serving meals in response to the humanitarian, climate and community crises,” a WCK spokesperson said.
While Andre sharply criticized the Israeli government after the April 1 attack, WCK officials said they maintained constant contact with leaders as they coordinated the route.
“Every time we move, we send them a packing list of everything we're transporting,” Torpy said. [I]”Being more transparent about what we're bringing in and letting people know up front what we're bringing in is really important to making food more accessible.”
Last week, 100 WCK supply trucks entered the Gaza Strip through the Karem Shalom crossing between Israel and Egypt, and the agency said it had opened a new supply route from Jordan, receiving supplies via Cyprus. Jordanian suppliers have also reportedly provided the kitchens with rice, cooking oil, beef and chicken.
The United Nations has criticized Israel for not allowing more humanitarian aid to enter safely, a charge the Israeli government disagrees.
The United Nations says more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began, along with a further 1,500 Israelis and foreigners.
