Amid Gaza food distribution chaos, Palestinian-led group steps up
Hala Sabbah’s team has spent weeks trying to source a bag of flour in Gaza.
“We’re not finding flour - or at least clean flour. It’s all infested or mixed with sand,” she told Middle East Eye, speaking from London.
Sabbah works with a Palestinian-led mutual aid group, coordinating with local volunteers who purchase and distribute supplies in Gaza, using funds raised through the project.
Over a year ago, Sabbah and two other members of the Palestinian diaspora launched the Sameer Project - a grassroots initiative named in honour of Sabbah’s uncle, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Amid Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2 May, which has cut off all aid and forced many NGOs to suspend their services, their work has become even more challenging.
With flour scarce, the group has turned to rice distribution, but Sabbah is still doing all she can to find a bag of flour.
“People in Gaza really prefer bread. If you give them a plate of rice or a piece of bread, they will always take the bread,” Sabbah explained to MEE.
On Tuesday, a fledgling US-backed initiative to distribute aid via private contractors descended into chaos, as Israeli forces opened fire on starving Palestinians near the aid hub, killing three and wounding at least 46 others.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said it distributed just 14,000 boxes - each containing only 1,750 calories - well below the 2,100-calorie per day minimum set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency meals.
For Sabbah, the contents of the GHF parcels were not just inadequate, but “offensive".
“There were no vegetables, no meat, no fruit - nothing fresh,” Sabbah said.
The entire enterprise runs starkly counter to the work she and her colleagues have been doing over the last year - working closely with Palestinians in Gaza and adapting quickly to respond to the needs of those on the ground.
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