Gaza: Common kitchens feed thousands as food stocks dwindle

In Gaza, food is scarce. Prices are sky-high. Cooking gas is almost impossible to find, and even firewood costs too much. Many families have lost not only access to food but also the means to prepare it. 

That’s where the common kitchens come in — not just as providers of nourishment, but as a vital lifeline. 

Through bulk food distribution and cash-for-work programs, the ICRC helps sustain these kitchens, ensuring they have both the resources and the manpower to continue their life-saving work. 

It is a challenging operation: massive pots, industrial burners, lines of volunteers working shoulder to shoulder, and queues of residents clutching empty bowls, hoping today is not the day the food runs out. 

“Sometimes the line keeps growing and we run out of food before everyone is served,” Mamdouh says. “Families leave in silence, children walk away with their empty bowls, and some of them even fight over what’s left. That moment, when we have nothing more to give — that’s the hardest part of my day. It stays with me.”