MCC shipment of food crosses border into Gaza

With famine imminent in Gaza, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has delivered a critical truckload of emergency food for besieged families. As part of a convoy of other trucks transporting humanitarian relief via Jordan, the vehicle sat for more than a week waiting to cross the border but finally made its way through the Kerem Abu Salem crossing into Gaza on March 19.

MCC partner Al-Najd Developmental Forum (Al-Najd) received the lifesaving delivery from the first of six planned truckloads, including locally purchased food such as chickpeas, lentils, rice, flour, cooking oil, canned meat, fish and beans. The packages will be delivered to 665 displaced families currently living in tent camps in Deir al Balah and other locations between Gaza City and Rafah, known as the “Middle Area” of the Gaza Strip. It’s harder for families living in the Middle Area to access humanitarian relief than it is for those who fled further south.

“As a Palestinian, I was happy to help check and pack food boxes for our sisters and brothers in Gaza, knowing that every item in the box we picked together is greatly needed,” says an MCC staff* who helped pack the food packages. “Every day we pray for justice and peace and for equal human rights and dignity.”

Hunger at a crisis level in Gaza

For the approximately two million Palestinians trapped in Gaza, every conceivable resource is scarce. Food, drinking water, medicine, safe shelter – all are in dangerously short supply as the Israeli military continues its ground offensive and bombardment of Gaza. The entire population of Gaza is facing crisis-level hunger, with more than 677,000 experiencing a catastrophic level of food insecurity, on the brink of famine.

“The situation in Gaza is dire and we are so thankful to be able to provide this relief to families who are in a desperate situation,” says Sarah Funkhouser, MCC representative for Jordan, Palestine and Israel along with her husband Seth Malone. “We are having a real material impact for these families, but do not want to downplay how severe the crisis is for most families in Gaza.”

“The humanitarian need remains massive,” says MCC’s disaster response director, Bruce Guenther. “The international community and the Israeli government must act to prevent genocide and famine in Gaza. We will continue to advocate strongly for a ceasefire, adherence to international humanitarian law and for a long-term, just peace.”

*Some names have been withheld for security purposes. A longer version of this news release is available at mcc.org/our-stories.