Gaza (Quds News Network)- World Central Kitchen (WCK) has stopped cooking meals and baking bread in Gaza after running out of supplies. The group says Israeli border closures since early March have blocked food and fuel deliveries, making continued operations impossible.
Over the past 18 months, WCK served more than 130 million meals and baked 26 million loaves of bread in Gaza. Until recently, it was still producing 133,000 meals and 80,000 loaves each day, using alternative fuels like wood pallets and olive husk pellets to stretch its dwindling resources. But now, “we have reached the limits of what is possible,” WCK said in a statement.
The group’s two large field kitchens have shut down, and its mobile bakery — the last working bakery in Gaza — has no flour left. More than 80% of WCK-supported community kitchens have also stopped working due to a lack of food and fuel. Only water deliveries remain active where possible.
WCK says its trucks filled with food and fuel have been waiting at the Gaza border for over a month. More aid is ready to ship from Jordan and Egypt, but none of it can enter Gaza without Israeli approval. “Our pots may be empty, our cooking fires snuffed out — but World Central Kitchen will keep serving,” said founder José Andrés.
“The borders need to open,” said Wadhah Hubaishi, WCK’s Gaza Response Director. “If given full access, we could provide 500,000 meals a day to families in Gaza.”
The collapse of WCK’s operations comes amid a deliberate Israeli starvation campaign in Gaza. Israel’s total closure of border crossings since early March has choked off food, fuel, and water. Multiple other community kitchens and aid organizations have also announced they can no longer operate due to a lack of supplies.
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