Essential Food Supplies Remain Scarce in Gaza Amid Ceasefire Efforts

Mon Nov 24 2025 03:34:46 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Despite a recent ceasefire, food kitchens in Gaza are struggling to acquire vital ingredients, leaving humanitarian efforts hindered. Community kitchens provide essential meals, but challenges persist.

Gaza's community kitchens continue to operate under significant food shortages, even after the recent ceasefire. While Anera, a US humanitarian organization, has expanded its efforts to serve the displaced, essential products like fresh meat and proteins remain elusive. Many families continue to face dire conditions, reliant on aid for their daily meals. Calls for increased humanitarian access and support are growing, as the situation remains precarious with ongoing logistical challenges.

Despite a recent ceasefire, food kitchens in Gaza are struggling to acquire vital ingredients, leaving humanitarian efforts hindered. Community kitchens provide essential meals, but challenges persist.

Garlic simmers in huge metal pots heated over open wood fires and set up in a long line. Cooks add canned tomatoes and peppers with handfuls of spices, stirring the sauce with giant spoons. What is being prepared here is not just lunch, it is a lifeline.

American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) opened a community kitchen in al-Zawayda in central Gaza after the ceasefire began six weeks ago. The US humanitarian organization has another kitchen in al-Mawasi in the south of the strip, which was visited prior to the ceasefire when food stocks were dwindling due to Israel's ongoing blockade.

Today, Anera manages to feed more than 20,000 people daily, a significant increase from the previous months. However, the organization is facing significant hurdles; team leader Sami Matar explains that their availability of essential proteins such as meat remains severely restricted. Access to food has been a looming concern since the outbreak of the conflict in October 2023, with UN reports indicating famine conditions confirmed in parts of Gaza.

Each day, Anera's kitchens serve up meals primarily consisting of rice, pasta, and lentils, along with an effort to include vegetables for added nutritional value. Matar emphasizes the need for greater diversity in food offerings, which remains elusive as fresh vegetables and proteins like meat are still largely prohibited from humanitarian access.

The current situation for many in Gaza is grim. Families depend on these kitchens for survival while many report eating only one meal per day. As winter approaches, with colder and wetter weather, the urgency of the need for adequate nutrition and shelter intensifies. Children are reported to be particularly affected, consuming meals with little to no variation.

Despite the increase in food distribution following the ceasefire, aid agencies urge for enhanced freedom in accessing all crossing points into Gaza. UN's World Food Programme data suggests the need for urgent action as a quarter of Gaza's households struggle to secure food. For families like that of Aida Salha, reliant on community kitchens, daily life remains a struggle, with no significant changes in their conditions since the ceasefire.

As conversations about peace continue, the people of Gaza long for security and the ability to nourish their children with dignity.