The aid group Reconstruction Alliance has relocated from Rafah to central Gaza and is working hard to provide food to those in need.
Aisha Rascoe, host:
Israeli forces are operating in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that is the border crossing with Egypt through which much of the international food aid passes. The crossing is now closed, exacerbating what was already a humanitarian crisis. NPR's Jane Allaf and Anas Baba report on one U.S. aid group's response.
(sound of liquid boiling)
JANE ARRAFF: A large pot of soup is simmering in one of the new kitchens of the Reconstruction Alliance, which has relocated from Rafah to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: (Speaking Arabic).
ARRAF: NPR's Anas Baba asks chef Husam Ayyash about the dish of the day.
HUSAM AYYASH: (Speaking Arabic).
Araf: “Macaroni,” he says. No, no protein, just macaroni.
(Crosstalk)
Araf: They're trying hard, but nothing compared to the network of kitchens we had in Rafah, where small aid groups, with support from the World Food Programme, were handing out eggplant and chickpea stew, rice and fresh bread.
(sound of liquid boiling)
ARRAF: Throughout our 21 years of work in Gaza, the Reconstruction Alliance has built a network of aid kitchens, many of which focus on employing women.
(Crosstalk)
ARRAF: At the start of the Gaza war, as malnutrition spread, we were able to provide 100,000 meals a day, many of them in Rafah. Last month, Israel took control of the Rafah border crossing, citing the need to root out the militant group Hamas, and aid was cut off. Then Israel started bombing. Rafiq Al Mahdoon is a program manager at the Reconstruction Alliance.
Rafiq Al Mahdun: We moved our inventory from the warehouse to safer areas. We spread it out in our kitchens so that we don't have a lot of inventory in one place. Another reason is that we wanted to ensure the safety of our employees. So we asked them to move.
Araf: Here, many of our staff live in homemade tents, there is dangerously little drinking water, and even if there is food to cook, there is little fuel to cook it with.
(Crosstalk)
ARRAF: The Rebuilding Alliance uses pressed wood that it receives from the World Central Kitchen. In Rafah, a group of women mixed and rolled the dough and baked bread for every meal. But there's a shortage of fuel here, Al-Madoun says. Like most aid groups right now, the Rebuilding Alliance is forming partnerships to make use of the supplies they have.
Al-Madoun: One of our partners was able to get three tonnes of salt and six tonnes of vegetable oil, but they also need other materials to make food.
ARRAF: Israel has reopened a small border crossing, but it's mainly used by commercial traders rather than aid trucks. Vegetables are now sold in the market here, but Al-Mahdoon says not many people can afford them.
Al-Madoon: We need lentils. We need peas. We need flour. We need rice. We need bread. We need vegetables. We need everything.
ARRAF: Al-Madoun says they are serving around 55,000 meals per day. Now, a week later, that number has almost doubled, with the largest Rafah Kitchen reopening in Deir al-Balah. Aside from hunger and lack of shelter, he says the biggest impact on families who have been displaced multiple times is the effect it has had on their mental health.
AL MADUN: I see people who are just going through the motions, not concentrating or focused on anything. If you ask them, “What do you need?” they say, “I don't know.” What is your plan? I don't know. What do you need help with? They say, “I don't know.”
ARRAF: In one of the relocated kitchens, Nahiya Ayyash, known as Umm Tahsin, was trying to rebuild her cooking facilities despite a lack of supplies and equipment. She took five cooking pots with her when she fled Rafah. She burned her family's photo albums in case Israeli soldiers entered their home. She said she saw social media posts displaying women's underwear from homes the soldiers had broken into, and she didn't want soldiers to see the women's family photos.
NAYYA AYYASH: (Through interpreter) I burned my personal photos in case someone came into my house and did something bad. It felt so painful to burn my memories.
ARRAF: So she packed up her pots and headed for Deir ez-Zor Barah. “All I can do is stay alive,” she says – and help others survive. Jane Arraf, NPR News, Amman.
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All Rights Reserved. For more information, see our website's Terms of Use and Permissions page at www.npr.org.
NPR transcripts are produced under rush deadlines by NPR contractors. This text may not be final and may be updated or revised over time. Accuracy and availability may vary. The official record of an NPR program is the audio recording.
