World Central Kitchen has delivered more than 50 million meals to Gaza and hopes to continue expanding in the war-torn region, according to the aid group, which suspended its operations in April after an Israeli attack killed seven of its staff.
The aid group now has two main kitchens in Gaza and 65 more community kitchens spread across the tiny seaside enclave, according to the U.S.-based charity, founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. It resumed operations about a month after the airstrikes.
The April 1 deaths sparked widespread condemnation and calls for explanations from Israel's allies, including the United States.
About 100 trucks crossed the border from Egypt last week to deliver supplies to the teams to stock the kitchens, group spokeswoman Linda Ross said at a news conference.
Ross said World Central Kitchen is also opening new supply routes this week in Jordan, where authorities have been very cooperative. He said the organization is working to distribute not only hot meals but also pre-prepared meal boxes in the Gaza Strip.
“We continue this work with our Palestinian partners. We have about 400 Palestinian Response Committee members and hundreds of volunteers working to feed everyone in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians feeding Palestinians,” Roth said.
Israel is under increasing international pressure to alleviate severe hunger in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israeli attacks on the Palestinian group Hamas.
The conflict began after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, large swaths of densely populated areas have been devastated, most of the 2.3 million residents have been displaced, and more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled areas.
WCK aid workers were killed in the attack on their convoy shortly after overseeing the unloading of 100 tonnes of food that had been brought to Gaza by sea. The Israeli army expressed “deep sadness” over the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was unintentional.
There are no WCK operations in northern Gaza, making it harder for aid convoys to reach there from checkpoints in the south that are open, said John Torpy, the Kitchen's Middle East operations manager.
“Communications are still pretty bad,” he said. “It's hard to talk to our convoy.”
He said some areas of Gaza are not receiving food and many others are struggling to find clean water.
“We're always looking to expand as much as we can,” Torpy said.
At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the United Nations.
