WCK Cooking in Gaza Despite Reduced Humanitarian Access
Fighting in Gaza is escalating rapidly, with Israeli strikes across the territory. With no designated humanitarian zones and new orders limiting access, World Central Kitchen has had to continuously rework our operations.
Last week, our team was able to cook at our Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen, producing more than 52,000 meals. We have since reopened our Khan Younis and Mawasi kitchens where teams are cooking a combined 60,000 meals daily. WCK’s mobile bakery is also up and running, with more than 23,000 loaves of bread prepared today, as well as tens of thousands of meals from our network of community kitchens. Our newest, northernmost field kitchen remains inaccessible due to intense fighting.
Over the weekend, our teams delivered meals to medical centers across Gaza. “We successfully distributed hot meals to all hospitals and medical points,” said Wadah, WCK’s Gaza Response Director on Saturday. “From our Deir al-Balah kitchen, we reached 16 hospitals and medical points in the south, while our restaurant partners in northern Gaza provided meals to 19 hospitals in that region.”
Despite immense challenges, local communities remain our strength. An incredible 89 WCK-supported community kitchens are still active, preparing more than 198,000 meals daily. Restaurant partners in northern Gaza are delivering over 25,000 meals each day.
Operating in a war zone is an enormous challenge. Borders remain closed, preventing critical food and supplies from reaching Gaza. With Ramadan underway, the work that our teams undertook in early March to supply households with multi-meal boxes turned out to be critical.
We are assessing conditions daily to determine where we can safely operate. Despite the obstacles, WCK remains committed to serving Palestinian families, providing meals wherever and whenever possible.
