The US-based World Central Kitchen charity has halted work in the Gaza Strip, saying on Thursday it had run out of supplies and is being prevented by Israel from bringing in aid.
"After serving more than 130 million total meals and 26 million loaves of bread over the past 18 months, World Central Kitchen no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza," it said in a post on X.
"WCK has been unable to replenish the stocks of food that we use to feed hundreds of thousands of Gazans daily," it said.
The charity said it would continue to support Palestinian families by distributing critically needed potable water where possible, but vital food distribution cannot resume until Israel allows aid back into the enclave.
"WCK trucks loaded with food and cooking fuel have been ready at the Gaza border since early March. Additional food and equipment are ready to be shipped to the border from Jordan and Egypt," said World Central Kitchen, which was founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres.
Israel has faced growing international pressure to lift an aid blockade that it imposed in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months.
Israel has accused agencies, including the United Nations, of allowing large quantities of aid to fall into the hands of Hamas militants, who it accuses of seizing supplies intended for civilians and using them for their own forces. Hamas denies the allegation and accuses Israel of using starvation as a weapon against the population.
Growing lootings of community kitchens, stores of local merchants, and UN headquarters have prompted Hamas security forces to crack down on local gangs. Hamas executed at least six gang members last week, according to sources close to the group.
UN humanitarian agency OCHA has said more than 2 million people — most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million — face severe food shortages.
World Central Kitchen said that vital food distribution in Gaza cannot resume until Israel allows aid back into the enclave. Source: Getty / Anadolu
Dozens killed in Israeli strike on school
At least 48 people were killed on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes on a school that housed families displaced by the conflict and which was located close to a crowded market and restaurant in Gaza City, local health authorities said.
Medics said two strikes targeted the Karama School in Tuffah, a suburb of Gaza City, killing 15. Later in the day, an Israeli strike near a restaurant and market in the city killed at least 33 people, including women and children, medics said.
There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Two Israeli airstrikes on another school, housing displaced people in Bureij camp in central Gaza, on Tuesday killed at least 33 people, including women and children, local health authorities said
The Israeli military said it struck "terrorists" operating from a command centre in the compound.
The strike smashed classrooms, destroyed furniture and left a large crater in the school campus. On Wednesday, survivors sifted through rubble to look for some of their belongings.
"What happened is an earthquake. The Israeli occupation hit a school housing children. They are children," said eyewitness Ali Al-Shaqra. He said the school housed 300 families.
In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, near the border with Egypt, residents and Hamas sources said Israeli forces, who have taken control of the city, continued to blow up and demolish houses and buildings.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, said on Wednesday that their fighters had detonated a pre-planted minefield targeting an Israeli armoured force east of Khan Younis in the south. They said they inflicted casualties, followed by mortar shelling of the area.
