Gaza and West Bank Response Log | January 2024

We served a total of 112,500 meals today, including both hot meals and fresh produce. Four of our community kitchens in our Tekia program were operational today, preparing hot meals consisting of macaroni and green beans with rice or lentil soup and rice and lentils. The kitchen operating near the Qatari Camp served 30,000 people with hot meals; at Rafah crossing, our kitchen provided a hot meal for 12,000 people; our kitchen at the UN logistics base in Rafah prepared meals for 15,000 people; and our community kitchen in the middle area served lentil soup and rice and lentil meals to 6,000 people.

We also distributed 1,500 fresh produce baskets today in Rafah and the middle area, supplying ingredients sufficient for 49,500 meals.

We also conducted psychosocial support activities at a school in Rafah for 124 children. The activities included music, storytelling, recreational activities, interactive games and sports.

Today three of our tekias (community kitchens) prepared macaroni, green beans and rice meals. The kitchen near the Qatari Camp provided a hot meal to serve 33,000 people. The tekia at the Rafah crossing provided a hot meal servings for 12,000 people, and the tekia at the UN log base in Rafah prepared green beans with rice and macaroni meals, serving 16,500 people. The tekia in the middle area served lentil soup and rice and lentil meals to 6,000 people. The Gaza team also distributed in Rafah and the middle area enough fresh produce to make 49,500 meal servings. In total, Anera provided 117,000 meal servings today.

With support from Humanity First USA, and medical donations from Direct Relief and IHP, our health team conducted two mobile health days in Mawasi and Khan Younis today. The collective impact of our two free medical points resulted in providing 780 displaced people with health treatments.

Today, the team delivered psychosocial activities at one shelter in Rafah, involving 340 children.

Today four of Anera’s tekias (or community kitchens) prepared hot meals. Three made lentil soup and lentil and rice meals and the fourth made green beans with rice and macaroni meals. The three tekias in Rafah distributed 61,500 servings and the one in the middle area served 6,000 people. Unfortunately, there was no flour available today so we were unable to bake bread. No food interventions happened in Khan Younis due to the unsafe conditions there.

The Gaza team also distributed enough fresh produce today in Rafah and the middle area to make 49,500 meal servings.

Today, we received three trucks from UNICEF. Two were loaded with winter clothes for 7-year-olds, while the third contained a mix of blankets, winter clothes, and tarps to cover tents.

With support from Humanity First USA and donations of medicines from Direct Relief and IHP, and despite the rainy weather, our Gaza medical team successfully delivered a mobile health day in the Jenena area of Rafah. Well over 400 patients came to get medical advice and treatments. Anera hired four doctors, who were in attendance, including a dentist.

Psychosocial activities took place at a school in Rafah, involving 112 children.

It’s cold and rainy today in Gaza. Our team says the conditions in the informal camps and the circumstances people are living in are heartbreaking. More tents and other shelter supplies are desperately needed.

Today we distributed a total of 118,500 meals, including both hot meals and fresh produce. We had four active community kitchens through our Tekia program that prepared hot meals of lentil soup, green beans with rice and macaroni, and lentil and rice dishes. The operational kitchens today were in the Qatari Camp, near the Rafah crossing, in the middle area, and near the UN offices in Rafah. In addition to our hot meal distributions, we distributed 1,500 fresh produce baskets today in Rafah and the middle area, providing raw ingredients to prepare a total of 49,500 meals.

Unfortunately, there was no flour available today so we were unable to bake bread. We could not distribute any food in Khan Younis due to the ongoing military operations.

Despite the rainy weather, we also conducted two free health clinic days today in Rafah, in Al Zohor area. Today we added dental care to the clinic treatment capacities, providing care for gum and teeth infections, pain killers and toothbrushes and toothpaste for children.

Four of the five Anera tekias (community kitchens) prepared lentil soup and rice-and-lentil meals. The kitchen near the Qatari camp in Rafah served 30,000 displaced people, the Rafah crossing kitchen served 12,000, the UN Logbase kitchen in Rafah served 15,000 displaced people, and in the middle area our tekias served 5,400 people. The kitchen in Khan Younis was not operational today due to the unsafe situation on the ground. The Gaza team provided a total of 62,400 hot meal servings today.

With support from Humanity First USA, the Anera team in Gaza coordinated our sixth community health day. The event took place in Rafah in a shelter housing 135 tents with at least 200 families. There are some 1,500 displaced people in the shelter. Our services reached 350 people with free treatments of medicines and consultations with doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

In collaboration with WFP, UNICEF and UNFPA, the Gaza team also distributed a wide variety of essentials to meet the needs of displaced families, including 575 WFP food parcels, kits containing soaps and other hygiene products, 1,150 blankets and durable tarps and 1,150 menstrual hygiene kits. This joint distribution event successfully addressed the food, hygiene, and winterization needs of some 575 families at an informal shelter in Mawasi Rafah.

Today, we successfully served 111,900 meals in Rafah and Gaza’s middle area, offering both hot meals and fresh produce, featuring lentil soup and rice and lentil dishes. Unfortunately, hot meal distribution in Khan Younis was hindered by Israeli ground operations, and the absence of flour impacted bread baking in all our takias (community kitchens).

Anera’s Gaza team received crucial aid, including a World Food Program truck with ready-to-eat food parcels and four trucks from World Central Kitchen delivering smart palettes, supporting our takias.

In addition to food distributions, our Gaza team conducted essential psychosocial support activities at Tal Sultan School shelter in Rafah. Engaging 309 children, including 31 injured, 3 with disabilities, and 28 who experienced family loss, psychosocial activities encompassed parachute exercises, singing, sports, group competitions, and storytelling, offering comfort and support to the affected children.

We also conducted a successful free medical day in Rafah, and we plan to extend these services to the middle area soon. 800 patients were treated during this medical day.

At our three tekia (community kitchens) in Rafah and one in the middle area, our Gaza team coordinated the preparation and distribution of mjadara and lentil soup, serving 62,400 displaced people. At two of the tekias in Rafah, women made 9,000 flatbreads. Anera also distributed enough fresh produce today in Rafah and the middle area to make 49,500 meal servings.

The team was sadly unable to carry out any food interventions today in Khan Younis, because of the unsafe conditions arising from ground hostilities.

Our Rafah distribution center received two trucks from UNICEF. One is stocked with soap and plastic cover sheets, which can be used to prevent rainwater from seeping into tents. The second is carrying a supply of blankets.

Psychosocial activities took place at a school shelter in Rafah, with 390 children participating. Activities included interactive games, storytelling, physical exercises, and singing.

To commemorate the International Day of Education, we shared this series on our social media channels. Check it out on Instagram.

Yesterday, our Gaza team opened Anera’s fifth tekia (community kitchen) in the middle area. Our three tekias in Rafah distributed 53,000 hot meal servings and 13,500 flatbreads. Our Khan Younis tekia distributed 12,000 hot meal servings and, at our newly opened tekia in the middle area, 12,000 people picked up hot meals over the course of the last two days. The team also coordinated delivery of enough fresh produce to make 49,500 meal servings.

We are back in contact with our team in Gaza. During the telecommunications blackout in Gaza this past week, our dedicated staff worked tirelessly to expand our outreach and establish additional community kitchens. We can confirm that we now have four active community kitchens as part of our Tekia program, strategically located to provide essential food assistance to those most in need. These kitchens include the Rafah Tekia near Qatari Camp, the Rafah Crossing Tekia, the Rafah UN Logbase Tekia, and the Khan Younis Tekia, all catering to displaced individuals residing in informal shelters.

In total today, our efforts resulted in the distribution of 63,000 hot meals and 18,000 loaves of freshly baked bread to meet the immediate nutritional needs to displaced people. At the Rafah Qatari Camp Tekia, we prepared nutritious mjadara (rice and lentils) meals and lentil soup, serving a total of 30,000 people. Additionally, the kitchen baked 4,500 loaves of bread to complement these meals. The Rafah Crossing Tekia also focused on providing mjadara and lentil soup to 12,000 people. There was no bread baked there today. At the Rafah UN Logbase Tekia, our team served 15,000 individuals with macaroni and mjadara meals, and 4,500 loaves of bread were prepared to accompany these dishes. And at our Khan Younis Tekia, a total of 6,000 people received mjadara and macaroni meals, along with 9,000 loaves of bread. We also have reports on the food distributions of previous days during the comms blackout and will have an updated tally soon.

We also conducted psychosocial support activities today at Ahmad Yaseen shelter school in Rafah for 310 children. The activities included puppetry, parachute games, singing and sports.

As of January 18, UNRWA estimates that 1.7 million people are internally displaced, many having experienced multiple displacements in search of safety. The escalation of conflict has led to some households moving away from initially registered shelters, resulting in multiple registrations of the same IDPs in various shelters. The Rafah governorate is the main refuge for more than one million displaced people, facing extreme overcrowding after hostilities intensified in Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah, coupled with Israeli military evacuation orders. Read the latest flash update from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Today marks the seventh day of a shutdown of cell service in Gaza. Normally Anera’s staff in Gaza contact our local partners every day to get the numbers of hot meals and fresh produce prepared and delivered. With the telecommunications blackout, however, our staff has not been able to make phone contact to get those updated numbers. Be assured, though, that the work continues.

Below are some pictures that our photographer Yousef Zaanoun was able to share from at our community kitchen in Rafah today.

Currently, a communication blackout persists across most of Gaza, posing challenges for our staff to provide daily updates. To overcome this, our team has to travel to the Rafah border with Egypt to connect to an Egyptian cell tower, enabling them to make necessary calls.

Despite these communication hurdles, we received news about psychosocial activities taking place today at the Al Nadina school in Rafah. These activities aim to support displaced children and their families. We also continued with our winter clothing distribution for displaced families in Rafah today.

In a promising development for aid logistics in Egypt, it appears that restrictions on aid cargo and trucks have been lifted, offering increased flexibility in transportation. While this potential change is positive if true, uncertainties linger about its impact on ongoing operations. Our Egyptian staff is actively working to gather detailed information from the aid cluster and Egyptian authorities to clarify this policy shift.

Questions have emerged regarding trucks waiting at the border, prompting a need to assess if expedited processes are possible with this new policy. Additionally, discussions are underway regarding the potential use of the El Arish Seaport as a new route for aid transportation to Egypt and, eventually, Gaza — an idea suggested by Egyptian authorities. Considering the potential time-saving benefits and the possibility of bypassing checkpoints from Cairo, the use of the El Arish Seaport is being carefully considered. We hope these envisioned changes aim to streamline aid operations and enhance humanitarian efforts for Gaza.

On 16 January, in a joint statement, a number of UN Special Rapporteurs said: “Currently every single person in Gaza is hungry, a quarter of the population are starving and struggling to find food and drinkable water, and famine is imminent. Pregnant women are not receiving adequate nutrition and healthcare, putting their lives at risk. In addition, all children under five – 335,000 – are at high risk of severe malnutrition as the risk of famine conditions continues to increase, a whole generation is now in danger of suffering from stunting.” Read the latest flash update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Today is the fifth consecutive day of a telecommunications blackout, meaning that we are unable to contact our local partners to get the numbers of meal servings they distributed. Be assured, though, that the work continues. The pictures below came in from our photographer today. He was able to find internet access and sent them through WhatsApp.

Telecommunications continues to be a challenge and we have not received an update on numbers for our response in Gaza for today. We can, however, report that our Gaza staff opened our third community kitchen. So, now we have kitchens in Rafah, Khan Younis and the middle area.

A word about communicating with Gaza: Normally Anera’s staff in Gaza contact our local partners every day to get the numbers of hot meals and fresh produce prepared and delivered. With the telecommunications issues over the last few days, our staff has not been able to make phone contact to get those updated numbers. Be assured, though, that the work continues.

One of our photographers, Yousef Zaanoun, went to our community kitchen in Rafah and took the pictures below. He was able to make his way to a place that has internet, where he sat near the building and sent images and films – via WhatsApp – to his colleagues outside of Gaza.

From Jan 13 to Jan 15, we received in Gaza 15 trucks. Eleven trucks came from UNICEF: six carrying medical supplies, three carrying winter clothes and two carrying baby formula. We also received four trucks from World Central Kitchen carrying a combination of food and non-food products that will supply our community kitchens.

Today marks the grim milestone of 100 days of war in Gaza. Read Anera’s latest situation report on Gaza.

We have don’t have much of an update today, because there is a telecommunications blackout. We can report, however, that our team in Gaza received 13 trucks over the course of yesterday and today.

We have a short update due to frequent loss of telecommunications connections with our Gaza team and the difficulties many of our staff and their families are facing in securing housing for themselves.

Again today, our community kitchens in Khan Younis and Rafah distributed 49,500 hot meal servings to displaced individuals. And like yesterday, the kitchens also baked 9,000 loaves of flatbread. Unfortunately, we were not able to distribute any kebabs or fresh produce baskets today.

Today, we hosted psychosocial support activities at a shelter school in Khan Younis for 213 children, some of whom have been injured in the war, have disabilities, or have lost family members. The activities included music, puppets, games and singing.

In the midst of ongoing challenges, our staff in Gaza is facing another difficult day and night. Updates from the Gaza team have been scarce as they deal with personal situations and prioritize the well-being of their families. Despite the limited communication, the team is in the process of moving into a new place—a three-story apartment complex.

Unfortunately, information from our community kitchen in Khan Younis has been hard to come by over the past two days. However, our efforts to provide immediate relief continue. We are serving hot meals consisting of lentils, eggplant, white beans, and tomato sauce to those in need and distributed 2,000 fresh produce baskets to Rafah and Khan Younis. Due to Israeli ground operations and tanks near shelter locations, there are no deliveries to the middle area at this time. The total number of meals served today is 93,000.

In addition to the food assistance, psychosocial support activities took place at the Marian Farhat School, engaging 360 children. Parents also participated in activities with their children, fostering a sense of community during these challenging times.

We’ve received crucial aid shipments, including a second truck from Direct Relief with a shipment of 5 pallets and an IHP shipment with 7 pallets. Furthermore, mattresses from Project Hope have arrived at the warehouse, and 3 trucks carrying 3,000 blankets, along with dignity kits, have been received.

Today, we distributed 96,000 meal servings, including 24,000 servings through our community kitchen in Rafah. The meals included black-eyed beans, white beans, potato, eggplant and mjadara (rice and lentils). At our community kitchen in Khan Younis, we prepared mjadara and eggplant meals to serve 6,000 displaced people at an informal shelter in the area. There was no flour today to bake bread.

We also distributed 2,000 fresh produce baskets today to Rafah and Khan Younis. These baskets included ingredients sufficient to support preparation of 66,000 meals.

Today we received four trucks carrying blankets donated by Project Hope and hygiene kits provided by UNICEF.

We held no psychosocial support activities today because the activity team are relocating to Rafah, where they will soon provide similar activities at sheltered schools in Rafah.

Yesterday (January 8), we distributed 96,000 meals. Our community kitchen in Rafah prepared mjadara, lentils, and eggplant meals to serve a total of 30,000 displaced people. The women also baked 3,600 servings of flatbread.

Anera’s team in Gaza distributed 24,000 hot meal servings to displaced individuals at our community kitchen in Rafah. The meals included black-eyed beans, white beans, potato with lemon, with a side of rice, and mjadara (rice and lentils meal). Our community kitchen in Khan Younis prepared mjadara, macaroni, and green beans, serving 6,000 displaced people at an informal shelter in the area. The team also provided kebab meals to 9,000 displaced individuals in Khan Younis. In total, Anera distributed 39,000 hot meal servings.

Fortunately, Anera secured flour and, at our community kitchens in Rafah and Khan Younis, women baked 9,900 servings of flatbread today.

The team also distributed in Rafah, Khan Younis and the middle area enough fresh produce to make 82,500 meal servings.

Anera delivered 500 hygiene kits from UNICEF to displaced people at informal shelters in Khan Younis.

Psychosocial activities reached 182 children at an UNRWA school shelter in Khan Younis.

80% of people in the world currently experiencing famine or catastrophic hunger are in Gaza. “In my life, I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of severity, in terms of scale, and then in terms of speed.” – Arif Husain, United Nations World Food Program [New Yorker]

We served 42,000 hot meals in Gaza today. Our community kitchen in Rafah distributed 27,000 hot meals, featuring some combination of black-eyed beans, white beans, eggplant, or potato with lemon and eggplant with a side of rice. Today, we also opened our second community kitchen – this one in Khan Younis. We prepared hot meals of lentil soup and macaroni meals to provide nourishment to a total of 6,000 displaced people at informal shelters. We just got more flour in Rafah so we’ll be able to return to baking more bread tomorrow.

We also prepared and distributed 9,000 kebab hot meals in Khan Younis. And we distributed fresh produce baskets with ingredients to prepare 82,500 meals to the middle area, Khan Younis and Rafah.

Our psychosocial support activities continue today at a shelter school in Khan Younis. The games and singing engaged 340 children, including some who have sustained injuries during the war, have disabilities or have lost family members in the conflict. We also hosted two group counseling sessions for mothers at the shelter.

We received three more trucks yesterday evening with 1,380 food parcels from World Food Programme (of which, we’ve managed to distribute 500 of these today), and 30 pallets of medical supplies from Direct Relief.

Today, we provided a combined total of 115,500 meal servings in Rafah, Khan Younis, and Gaza’s middle area. This included serving hot meals and distributing fresh produce baskets. The meals featured a variety of dishes, such as potato, eggplant, and green beans/rice, with some including kebab. In addition, the women at our community kitchen contributed by baking approximately 3,600 servings of flatbread.

In Rafah, 3,000 cash vouchers have been exchanged for winter clothes. Yesterday, our distribution center received three UNICEF trucks carrying hygiene kits. We efficiently distributed 300 food parcels donated by World Central Kitchen along with 300 hygiene kits donated by UNICEF to displaced individuals in Rafah.

Psychosocial support activities took place at a UNRWA school in Khan Younis. A total of 290 children actively participated, including 14 who were injured, 19 with disabilities, and 29 who had lost family members. The activities included a puppet show, cooperative games, music, dancing, and songs. The psychosocial sessions also featured four individual counseling sessions tailored to children’s specific needs, along with two group sessions to provide collective support and guidance.

Recent mass displacements in southern Gaza have reportedly worsened the spread of diseases, putting additional pressure on an already overwhelmed healthcare system. The WHO head in Palestine noted on December 29 that people in Gaza’s shelters are falling ill, with approximately 180,000 suffering from respiratory infections, 136,400 cases of diarrhea, 55,400 cases of lice and scabies, 5,330 cases of chickenpox and 42,700 cases of skin rash. Read the latest flash update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The Gaza team coordinated distribution of 30,000 servings of hot meals in Gaza, including green beans and rice meals prepared for displaced families at our community kitchen in Rafah and kebab meals in Khan Younis. Our community kitchen also began baking bread on Sunday. Today, they made and distributed 8,100 flatbreads.

The team also distributed enough fresh produce to prepare 82,500 meal servings to families in Rafah, Khan Younis and the middle area.

Families exchanged 2,000 cash vouchers, funded by UMCOR, for winter clothing in Rafah.

Our team coordinated psychosocial support activities today at a school shelter in Khan Younis for 150 children. The activities included group games, music sessions, storytelling, singing, and dancing.

Today, we provided 33,000 servings of hot meals in Gaza, including green beans and rice meals prepared for displaced families at our community kitchen in Rafah and kebab meals in Khan Younis. Our kitchen also began baking bread on Sunday. Today, they baked 4,500 loaves. We also distributed fresh produce baskets today, with ingredients sufficient to prepare 82,500 meals, to Rafah, Khan Younis and the middle area.

And 1,500 of our current cash vouchers have been exchanged for winter clothing in Rafah.

We held psychosocial support activities today at a school shelter in Khan Younis for 228 children. The activities included group games, music sessions, storytelling, singing, and dancing. The activity team leaders also addressed parents’ questions regarding how to manage and cope with children’s stress.

We continued today with cleaning 15 UN shelters in Khan Younis and Rafah.

Anera’s Gaza team provided 24,000 hot meal servings to displaced families in Rafah, at our Takie community kitchen. The team also provided enough fresh produce in Rafah, Khan Younis, and the middle area to make 82,500 meal servings.

Anera began distribution of 3,500 clothing vouchers from UMCOR. Families are using them to purchase warm clothes at local stores in Rafah.

We received two trucks carrying hygiene kits from UNICEF and one truck transporting ready-to-eat food parcels from World Central Kitchen.

The cleaning teams serviced 15 shelters, 10 in Khan Younis and five in Rafah.

Psychosocial support activities engaged 250 children at a UN school shelter in Khan Younis.