For the past six months, Salaam Foundation has been running a kitchen in the north of Gaza, providing much needed relief in the form of meals to the people existing in that area. The Gaza Kitchen has been serving thousands of people daily through the efforts of local volunteers as well as the continued support of Salaam Foundation and its donors.
By Fatima Moosa
The “kitchen,” which was setup in March 2024, is located outside in the open away from harm’s way and potentially unsafe buildings. It is basically a space on the streets where makeshift stoves have been set up using firewood and huge grills where massive pots are used to prepare the food. The first iteration of the kitchen was housed in a building and started on October 2023. However, the kitchen was moved outside when the building was destroyed in and Israeli bombing.
In total close to 20 000 family meals are prepared each month, providing a lifeline to Palestinians who are being denied their basic right to food during the ongoing genocide.
The #GazaKitchen project forms part of Salaam Foundation’s Palestine Response which has been ongoing since the beginning of the genocide in October 2023, with the aim of assisting those suffering from the brutalities of the genocide.
The extreme conditions as a result of Israel’s occupation especially in the last 10 months has resulted in food shortages and extremely high food prices. In March 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative released a special report on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
According to Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director the report “shows that the catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population. Never before have we seen such rapid deterioration into widespread starvation… Children are already dying of malnutrition and starvation under the gaze of the international community.”
For Salaam Foundation, food supply is therefore a critical area of priority in the northern Gaza Strip and the work being done at the #GazaKitchen has contributed to alleviating the hunger of thousands who are currently displaced and being forced to survive on little to nothing day-by-day. Providing food is about focusing on the most basic of needs.
Along with the #GazaKitchen project, Salaam Foundation has worked previously in Gaza through the Gaza Ambulance Project. In July 2024, during Al Jazeera English’s coverage of the ongoing genocide in Palestine, the Salaam Foundation #LemonAid ambulance was spotted, continuing to serve the people of Palestine in their time of desperate need. The ambulance was one of three funded through the #LemonAid1 project.
The donations from South Africans has helped to feed people who are currently surviving on very little.
The #GazaKitchen project will be supported by various fundraising projects over the next couple of weeks. All the details will be available on our website and various social media channels so keep an eye out for those.
If you would like to donate directly to the #GazaKitchen, donate now:
Salaam Foundation
FNB 6266 914 7665
Branch 250 737
Ref: PL + your name (zakat/lillah/sadaqa)
