World Central Kitchen says to halt Gaza operations due to supply depletion

The food relief organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced Wednesday that it will halt cooking in the Gaza Strip due to the depletion of humanitarian supplies.

"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," the Washington, D.C.-headquartered charity said in a press statement.

"Since Israel closed border crossings in early March, WCK has been unable to replenish the stocks of food that we use to feed hundreds of thousands of Gazans daily," the non-governmental organization stated.

WCK's large-scale field kitchens have run out of the ingredients needed to prepare daily meals, and its mobile bakery has no flour left, it said, adding that more than 80 percent of community kitchens in Gaza have run out of WCK-provided stock.

Meanwhile, Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network in Gaza, warned that the closure of community kitchens, given the depletion of their food supplies, could exacerbate the hunger.

"The repercussions of the severe humanitarian disaster will be significant on the health and lives of citizens, especially children, women, the elderly, and the sick," Shawa told Xinhua.

"If all parties do not intervene to save the situation by opening the crossings and allowing the entry of humanitarian and medical aid, we will be facing an extremely dangerous situation in Gaza," he said.

Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the expiration of the first phase of a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The UN has warned of an impending humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, reporting increasing signs of acute hunger, particularly among children.