Gaza woman cooks food for hungry neighbors
GAZA — Samira Abu Amra, a Palestinian woman from the al-Zaitoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza city, cooks a massive amount of food twice a week for neighboring families in need.
She came up with the idea after a benefactor from Kuwait donated her some money that she decided to share with neighbors by providing them with free food.
“The people here rarely eat meat because they cannot afford it, so I am trying to pamper them with delicious meals,” the 48-year-old woman said while holding a large spoon and stirring potato soup.
Gaza is home to thousands of needy families that lack the basic necessities such as food, clothing and housing.
On Mondays and Thursdays, dozens of children queue in front of Amra’s house to enjoy her dishes.
Mohammed Ahmed gave an earto-ear grin when it was his turn to get the ration for his 10-member family.
“My father does not work and we do not have money to buy meat. We live in a forgotten area. No one remembers us. Only Samira does,” the 12-year-old boy said.
Tight Israeli blockade
As one of the most densely populated areas in the world, the Gaza Strip has been under a tight Israeli blockade since the summer of 2007, when Hamas forcibly seized the Palestinian coastal enclave from forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority.
The 2007 crisis further severed Gaza’s access to humanitarian assistance. In September 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian Territory said Gaza was on the brink of being unlivable.
Amani Sayed, a mother in her 30s, expressed her happiness that she was able to feed her children with Amra’s assistance. “It is not easy to see your children (hungry) without food, but what can we do amid these unprecedented economic crises?”
According to official Palestinian statistics and the World Bank, the unemployment rate in Gaza, which had reached 46 percent in early 2020, is among the highest in the world.
The poverty rate and the extreme poverty rate in Gaza rose to 53 percent and 33.8 percent, respectively, data issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics showed.