In a barren Gaza landscape, a massive outdoor kitchen simmers spaghetti in 120 pots, a lifeline for over 20,000 displaced people daily. While a fragile ceasefire has allowed more food to enter, aid workers say the diet remains dangerously monotonous, lacking the fresh protein and vegetables needed to stave off malnutrition.
“We are mostly confined to just three meals a week: rice, pasta, and lentils,” says Sami Matar, a team leader with the aid group Anera. Essential proteins like meat and chicken are still barred from humanitarian aid shipments, available only at prohibitively high commercial prices.
For families who have lost everything, the hot meal is a moment of relief. Children grin, immediately sitting on the ground to slurp spaghetti. Yet, for their parents, the ceasefire has not brought change.
“I swear nothing has changed,” says Aida Salha, a mother of six living in a borrowed tent. “We were only happy that the constant bloodshed stopped.”
Aid agencies report that while more meals are now reaching Gaza’s 2 million people, a quarter of households still eat just one meal a day. The underlying crisis remains: without cash and a path home, survival hinges on these communal pots. As Sami Matar says, the ultimate hope is simple: “People want to live in a safe, secure place and be able to cook a hot meal for their children with love and dignity.”
By James Kisoo
