1+ million meals served across Middle East in month since escalation of violence
Update – The first trucks of WCK aid entered Gaza on November 14 and the supplies they carried are being distributed to people in need by Anera, our partner on the ground.
World Central Kitchen continues working alongside partners inside Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt to support families impacted by the escalating conflict. In the past month, WCK has worked alongside NGOs and restaurant partners, local communities and chefs, to provide more than one million hot, freshly prepared meals in the region, along with produce, food kits, and other sources of support.
In Egypt
Nineteen WCK trucks loaded with food and water are in the city of Rafah—in northeastern Egypt—waiting for permission to enter Gaza to deliver desperately needed aid. Gaza’s borders have been closed for nearly a month, leaving Palestinians without enough food, water, and fuel. Over the past few weeks, only a limited amount of humanitarian aid has been allowed in, but it is not enough to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza, many of whom are displaced.
World Central Kitchen has a team in Cairo working tirelessly to prepare everything possible to be able to support once regular crossings begin. This includes getting food products, kitchen equipment, warehouses, and vehicles in place to move north immediately.
“World Central Kitchen strives to be the first on the frontlines, and we have been preparing in Egypt for weeks to act,“ said WCK’s CEO Erin Gore. “We know food has the power to be a piece of both nourishment and hope in the darkest times.”
Our Relief Team is operating with specific requests from Anera, WCK’s partner organization on the ground in Gaza, about what they need most. Frustratingly, we aren’t able to get some of those things across the border. “The items Anera asked us to prioritize like cooking fuel in the form of charcoal and wood pellets, hygiene kits…are not allowed in the convoy. Only food.” explained Zomi, WCK’s Senior Manager of Relief Operations in Asia.
In total, the WCK trucks currently at the border are carrying the equivalent of more than 314,000 meals. Entire trucks are filled with pallets of canned goods, like vegetables, beans, beef, and tuna, along with thousands of pounds of flour and dry yeast. We also dedicated one whole truck of drinking water for the lineup.
These trucks full of food and their dedicated drivers are now positioned at the Rafah border, ready to move to get this aid to Anera in Gaza as soon as permission is given. The group of truck drivers sitting behind the steering wheels are just as eager about the progress as our team. They helped brand every side of their trucks with WCK logos and signs reading “Humanitarian Aid” in both English and Arabic.
“These truck drivers take immense pride in their role of providing support to Palestinians in need during such challenging times,” explained Hamada, WCK’s photographer on the ground in Egypt. “They firmly believe even their small efforts can have a positive impact and bring some relief to the Palestinian people.”
Anera isn’t waiting for trucks of food to arrive—they’re working to urgently serve the thousands of Palestinians who need food aid every day with the dwindling resources they have access to.
In Gaza
Anera is determined to deliver meals to hard-to-reach populations of displaced individuals in the northern region of the Gaza Strip and Gaza City. Movement in those parts of Gaza is exceptionally risky due to the ongoing violence. However, after overcoming numerous challenges, Anera’s team provided food to 6,250 displaced people in just 48 hours.
This food is being distributed in the form of meal kits full of shelf-stable items and dry goods that can feed a family for up to six days. They were delivered to host communities who are housing displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza, as well as United Nations shelters in the area.
Over the past month, Anera’s team has bravely distributed hot meals, food kits of shelf-stable items, and produce kits, throughout Gaza, even while suffering personal losses of family members and loved ones.
In Israel
WCK has partnered with 20 restaurants, 8 catering companies, and 5 NGOs to provide more than 540,000 hot meals in Israel. Our teams are specifically focusing on people who are not receiving other aid, like along the border with Gaza where many have been unable to evacuate and now have limited or no access to food. These groups include not only Israelis, but also Eritrean, Sudanese, and Chinese communities.
WCK is also supporting evacuees who have been receiving aid from local, community-based groups, taking on some of the burden so they can take much-needed rest. “The feeding response is decentralized among Rabbis, municipalities, kibbutzim, and mostly volunteer groups providing donations,” said Fiona, WCK’s Director of Relief Operations, who is on the ground in Israel. “Our presence is bringing a lot of consistency, particularly as volunteers get tired and aren’t able to keep supporting.”
Fiona stressed the importance of being prepared to adapt at a moment’s notice. “There is a lot of uncertainty as to what the coming days and weeks will bring, so we’re preparing our partners to be able to scale or decrease as needed,” she said. Fiona also shared the importance of the local and international staff who have joined WCK’s efforts throughout the country. “They are running this response…and compassionately serving people despite the emotionally overwhelming context we’re in. We are only able to do what we do because of [them].”
In Lebanon
Families in southern Lebanon are being impacted by bombardment near the border with Israel. Working with local chefs and partner organizations, weare providing hundreds of meals daily to people forced to evacuate, many of whom are now sheltering in schools across the region. We are also providing nourishing meals to volunteers to fuel their efforts to reach as many displaced people as possible. Many of our incredible partners in the country wish to remain anonymous out of security concerns, but together they have served more than 14,000 hot meals in just a few weeks.
Looking ahead
Each day the conflict goes on, our teams in the region and local partners encounter new challenges. Their bravery in the face of constant danger is evidenced in the tireless efforts that go into ensuring we are feeding anyone in need, regardless of where they are.
We are hopeful our aid trucks will be moving into Gaza any moment now, and we are also speaking with Anera’s teams in the West Bank, should the need for food support arise there. Our teams and partners in Israel and Lebanon will closely monitor the needs of displaced families to ensure we reach all pockets. As WCK encounters time and time again, in the darkest and most challenging moments, incredible people show up to offer hope to their neighbors in need.
Help us keep cooking for families across the region.
