Seven mouths, one meal: Feeding a family through Gaza’s food crisis

Whenever Mervat Radwan hears that the community kitchen in her displacement camp will serve lunch, she feels relief. She takes a cooking pot and walks there with her nephew, six-year-old Ubay. But the meal rarely feeds all seven people in her household, so she searches for anything that can make it last longer.

A can of tuna, beans or peas from an aid parcel can help stretch the food. “Sometimes they give us a cooked meal, but it isn’t enough for seven people, so I try to find something besides it,” Radwan told Al Jazeera.

The kitchen near her displacement site closed for almost two months before reopening for only two days a week. Across Gaza, community kitchens have become a vital source of food for families with little or no income, but their operations have fluctuated sharply. United Nations figures show that daily production fell from about 1.5 million meals served by 165 kitchens in mid-March to 698,000 meals served by 102 kitchens in July.

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Sometimes they give us a cooked meal, but it isn’t enough for seven people, so I try to find something besides it.

Charities have attributed the decline to severe funding shortages and rising operating costs. They are struggling to secure enough food and cooking supplies, leaving families with fewer and less reliable sources of prepared meals.

Radwan, 45, became guardian to her three nephews after an Israeli air attack in northern Gaza on Oct. 18, 2024, killed her brother Mohammad, his wife Anwar and their one-year-old son, Yosuf. Their three other children survived. Nayef, now 14, has shrapnel lodged in his head; Habib, 11, suffered burns; and Ubay also sustained severe burns. For nine months, they have lived in a tent in Deir el-Balah with Radwan, her 70-year-old father and her 40-year-old sister, Sanaa. None of the adults has a regular income, leaving the family dependent on aid and charity for food and other basic necessities.

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It’s not just about taking them in; there is a lot of responsibility … food, drink, expenses, everything they need.