By Tia Goldenberg -
The Associated Press
World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by Spanish chef José Andrés Puerta, suspended its work in Gaza following an Israeli attack that killed seven of its workers. He explained that he would soon announce his long-term plans in the region, where he has been bringing desperately needed food to a population facing famine from Israel's war against the Palestinian group Hamas. The NGO has also been a pioneer in the delivery of aid arrived by sea from Cyprus. Thus, their absence, even if temporary, will aggravate the misery of the devastated territory.
A member of World Central Kitchen with material from the NGO before being transferred to Gaza, on March 13, 2024. Petros Karadjias / AP
What is World Central Kitchen?
Founded in 2010, World Central Kitchen distributes freshly prepared meals to people in need after natural disasters, such as hurricanes or earthquakes, or to those suffering from conflict. It has also provided meals to migrants arriving at the southern border of the United States, as well as hospital staff who worked tirelessly during the coronavirus pandemic.
The aid group sends teams that can cook meals appealing to local palates on a large scale and quickly.
“When you talk about food and water, people don't want something for a week or a month. “The solution has to be now,”
says its founder on the NGO's website.
World Central Kitchen has worked in dozens of areas and currently has teams in Haiti due to the violence crisis and is serving the needs of Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion.
What have you done in Gaza during the war?
Its teams have been deployed throughout the Gaza region after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, triggering the military response that is devastating the Strip.
According to its website, it has fed displaced Israelis, hostages held hostage by Hamas, and people who had to flee Lebanon due to fighting. But her work in Gaza has been the most difficult, providing more than 43 million meals to its inhabitants.
It has established two main kitchens, in the southern city of Rafah and in the central Deir al-Balah. In addition, he supported 68 community kitchens throughout the territory, which serve more than 170,000 hot meals a day. The group stepped up its work during Ramadan, the holy month in which Muslims traditionally fast from dawn to dusk and then eat abundantly, when
they distributed 92,000 boxes of food or about 4.7 million meals.
[Progressives push a protest vote against Biden in the Wisconsin Democratic primary over the war in Gaza]
The organization has provided meals by air and directed two sea shipments with hundreds of tons of food to northern Gaza, where the food emergency is most acute.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, the chef credited the charity's sea deliveries to the United States after declaring he would build a dock.
What will his absence mean for the Palestinians?
With World Central Kitchen immediately suspending work, tens of thousands of meals a day will not be delivered. Following the attack, Cyprus' Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that aid ships that arrived in Gaza this week will return to the Mediterranean nation with some 240 tons of undelivered aid. According to the spokesperson, about 100 of them have already been downloaded.
Other humanitarian organizations, including the UN, continue to provide assistance to Palestinians on the ground, but say that supplies are not arriving quickly enough and that, once they have entered Gaza, their delivery is hampered by logistical problems and because of the constant fighting.
Israel denies there are food shortages in Gaza and blames the UN and other groups for not increasing deliveries within the territory.
World Central Kitchen was at the forefront of the two sea shipments that have arrived in Gaza so far. It was unclear to what extent the maritime corridor would continue without the group, but Cyprus' president declared Tuesday that more aid could be sent to Gaza from Cyprus "before the end of the month," as the United States completes construction of a floating dock off the coast of the Palestinian territory.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said aid shipments
“They will continue as long as there are humanitarian needs.”