Published On 3/5/2026
Charitable hospices in the northern Gaza Strip continue their work despite the Israeli siege and intense bombing, to be the primary and only source of food for thousands of Palestinians in the Jabalia camps and its east.
Charitable kitchens are a lifeline for tens of thousands of displaced people in northern Gaza in light of the economic collapse and scarcity of resources.
One of these hospices is located in the Al-Qasaib neighborhood in Jabalia, near the “Yellow Line,” where the occupation imposes exceptionally difficult conditions on those in this dangerous area, and it provides its services to hundreds of families.
Sheikh Bashir Suleiman, who is in charge of the hospice, says that the effort is entirely self-sufficient after relief institutions were prevented from reaching eastern Jabalia, Al-Nuzha, Al-Alawiyin, and the Al-Omari Mosque area. He adds that the occupation is firing heavily at the tents without distinguishing between a yellow or green line, and despite that, the people remain in their destroyed homes and refuse to move to the seashore.
According to a report on Al Jazeera Mubasher, the number of beneficiaries of one hospice reaches between 800 and 1,000 families per day, at a rate of 3 times a week.
Cooking samakia and kofta
Sheikh Bashir explains that they consult people about the types of food, so they cooked sumac at their request despite the high price of sumac, and they also cook potatoes with kofta and rice, while the cook Abu Al-Shahd explained that he is suffering from extreme difficulties in bringing resources, as prices have doubled by 200%, firewood and gas are scarce, and transportation has been disrupted due to destruction and occupation.
Citizen Azzam Jumaa expresses his daily suffering, noting that this hospice is equivalent to “filling the need for empty stomachs.” He asserts that international institutions are using the region’s proximity to danger as an excuse to refrain from arriving, while the displaced return to their destroyed homes to confirm their roots in the land.
Despite being shot repeatedly, journalist Osama continues his efforts to convey the suffering of citizens from this area, which he described as “extremely dangerous” because of the surveillance cameras installed by the occupation army in military sites overlooking Jabalia.
Sheikh Bashir asserts that the people of Gaza have only increased their faith and submission, and that the tax of steadfastness in the land is very expensive. He called on the nation for solidarity, citing the Almighty’s saying, “Indeed, the believers are brothers,” stressing that these donations continue despite unemployment reaching more than 90% and the lack of the most basic necessities of life.
