Cooking Under Bombardment: Sa7ten Serves Thousands in Gaza City
The Sa7ten team cooks for the remaining people in North Gaza. At the time the photo was taken, 800,000 people were staying in Gaza before the IOF invasion of the city.
On Sunday, 14 September, while Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) intensified strikes and pushed plans to occupy Gaza City, Sa7ten cooked and served hot meals to thousands in the west of the city, around Al‑Mina (the port) and Tel al‑Hawa - and delivered a water truck (≈6–6.5 m³) that also supplied nearby families. Communications were near blackout. Public gathering was punished by threat. We proceeded because people needed to eat.
Ahmad, Field Operations Manager: “We had to cook - whatever it took. I made 500–600 calls and only about 50 connected. Cooks withdrew. Transport collapsed. So we dragged pots and firewood on hand‑carts and kept going.”
What Happened on 14 Sept
Relocations under fire: We prepared to cook near the universities, but strikes forced a move to Tel al‑Hawa (Al‑Quds Hospital area), then a final shift to Al‑Mina.
Cooks and capacity: The first cook refused twice due to direct threats; a second cook agreed, then evacuated south; a third cook had no pots, we rented in two batches (≈17 then ≈15) to reach a 30+ pot capacity.
Manual logistics: With tuk‑tuks gone or heading south, we used hand‑carts and on‑foot hauling. Four young helpers moved pots, firewood, onions, spices, water – load after load across the city.
Scale and timing: We cooked 31 large pots (≈300 kg pasta and 200–250 kg rice). Water only boiled around 15:00, and distribution began after Maghrib, in the dark, under strikes. Everything was taken.
Water delivery: We paid 1,500 NIS for ≈6–6.5 m³; 1.5–2 m³ used for cooking; the rest distributed to the camp.
Abu Salah, Field Operations Coordinator: “Standing in the street here is 100% threat. Drones order people to move. Cooking is treated as defiance against the plan to empty Gaza. Still, people stayed. They ate here, in their city.”
People Reached
Families on foot, children, elderly people, and those pausing along displacement routes ate a first proper hot dinner in weeks. Demand surpassed supply.
Abu Salah: “I thought we’d have surplus. People told me even another 30 pots would be gone. We were filling paint‑bucket‑sized pails just to split portions.”
OUR CALLS TO
INGOs & large agencies: Drop the alibis. Mandates must bend to reality. Cut the bureaucracy that blocks food, water, and movement—delay is complicity. Work directly with local initiatives able to act under fire.
Regional powers: End the blockade complicity. Open corridors immediately for fuel, water, food, and medical supplies. Back grassroots Palestinian initiatives already operating on the ground.
People outside Gaza: Disrupt the governments and corporations arming and financing these attacks. Join grassroots Palestinian movements. Boycott complicit firms and institutions. Flood officials with letters. Donate to Sa7ten and to local initiatives that reach people directly.
We are still working in north Gaza. We will continue to cook where people gather and refuse to be uprooted.
Ahmad: “Whatever we can do today, we do. Tomorrow we return, cook along the displacement routes, and help whoever we can. This is our stand.”
