Gaza community kitchens cut meals from 1.5 million to 698,000 daily

September 6, 2026 at 06:15 PM2 min

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Daily meal production at Gaza community kitchens fell from about 1.5 million in mid-March to 698,000 by July, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The number of operating kitchens dropped from 165 to 102 over the same period. Mervat Radwan, a 45-year-old guardian of three orphaned nephews in Deir el-Balah, relies on these kitchens to feed her household of seven.

Key Facts

Daily meal production in Gaza fell from about 1.5 million meals via 165 kitchens in mid-March to 698,000 meals served by 102 kitchens by July, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The kitchen near Mervat Radwan's displacement site was closed for almost two months before resuming services for just two days a week.
Mervat Radwan, 45, became the guardian of her three nephews after an Israeli air attack in northern Gaza on October 18, 2024, killed her 38-year-old brother Mohammad, his wife Anwar, 33, and their one-year-old son Yosuf.
Radwan's household of seven includes her 70-year-old father and 40-year-old sister Sanaa, none of whom has a regular source of income.

Kitchen Closures

Community kitchens across the Gaza Strip have seen their operations fluctuate sharply in recent months, leaving families with fewer and less reliable sources of cooked meals. The substantial reduction in the number of community kitchens and the meals they serve has been attributed to severe funding shortages and rising operational costs. Charities face difficulties securing sufficient food or cooking supplies, according to the report.

Family Burden

Mervat Radwan takes a cooking pot and walks to the community kitchen with her six-year-old nephew Ubay whenever the kitchen in her displacement camp announces lunch service. The meal is rarely enough for the seven people in her household, so she supplements it with a can of tuna, beans, or peas from an aid parcel. Radwan's three nephews — Nayef, now 14, Habib, 11, and Ubay, now four — survived the October 18, 2024 air attack but suffered shrapnel wounds and severe burns. For the past nine months, the family has lived in a tent in Deir el-Balah, reliant on aid and charity to make it through to the next day.