José Andrés Visits Gaza & Israel
World Central Kitchen founder Chef José Andrés is visiting Gaza and Israel this week to advocate for a dramatic increase in humanitarian aid to Palestinians to avert starvation, the release of all Israeli hostages, and an end to the war.
In a visit inside Gaza on Thursday morning, José met with WCK teams at one of our high-capacity field kitchens, a bakery, and two facilities in the Deir al Balah area. He travelled with a small WCK group, moving independently and freely through Gaza.
While at WCK’s Gaza operations José met with local team members who have led efforts to keep the organization cooking in the face of widespread hunger and severely limited aid. Operations Manager Shadi, Community Outreach Lead Fady, and Chef Ibrahim shared the steps that WCK has taken locally to adapt and persevere.
WCK has served more than 145 million meals in Gaza and more than two million in Israel since the start of the war. Gaza meal production is currently about 200,000 daily, but cooking has been greatly reduced this year as food supplies have been halted or constrained.
WCK is seeking to rapidly scale up production to an unprecedented one million hot meals a day.
The ambitious plan requires an increase to five high-capacity field kitchens and enough supplies to outfit scores of smaller community kitchens at the neighborhood level throughout Gaza.
WCK will also need extended supply chain access through multiple entry points and the ability to send in more than 100 trucks daily, as well as permission to directly import fuel.
José met with WCK teams at one of our high-capacity field kitchens, a bakery, and two facilities in the Deir al Balah area.
In Israel, José met with Reut Karp, whose family were victims of the October 7th terrorist attack on Kibbutz Re’im in 2023.
He also visited the Nova music festival site, where hundreds of young Israelis were massacred and more than 40 taken hostage. Prior to entering Gaza, José stopped at a memorial to victims at a bomb shelter near Kibbutz Kfar Aza in Southern Israel.
José visited the Nova music festival site
He plans to meet with Israeli hostage families and top Israeli and US leaders while in the region.
“We are on the side of humanity and feeding people,” said José. “We urge compassion, love, and care for both Palestinians and Israelis. We firmly believe that in the worst of situations, the best of humanity shows up. We continue our calls for a ceasefire, the hostages to be released, and an end to this cruelty and suffering on all sides.”
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