WCK to Return Gaza Operations to Pre-Ceasefire Levels Amid Funding Challenges
World Central Kitchen will be returning to cooking the amount of meals we delivered in Gaza before the ceasefire in October. This decision is driven entirely by financial pressure. It does not reflect any reduction in need on the ground. We will still be delivering hundreds of thousands of hot meals every day to families in need and maintaining one of the largest food relief operations anywhere in the world, only at a reduced level.
Since the start of the conflict in 2023, WCK has invested more than half a billion dollars feeding the people of Gaza. Late last year, in direct response to the collapse in food access triggered by the border closure, we surged our operations to one million hot meals a day. Sustaining that level of output is not something any single NGO can do indefinitely. WCK is funded entirely by private donations, most of them from small donors. That model gives us the speed and flexibility to respond to crises around the world. But it also means our capacity has its limits. We specialize in emergency food relief, not long-term food security. The long-term responsibility of feeding Gaza cannot rest on the shoulders of one organization alone.
The people of Gaza have lost their homes and their economy. The world must step up—not just talk about the plight of the Palestinians. Governments, institutions, and international partners need to commit the sustained, secure funding that this crisis demands.
