World Central Kitchen (WCK), once a vital lifeline for Gaza’s starving population, has suspended its food relief operations as the blockade and fuel shortages grind humanitarian work to a halt. After delivering over 130 million meals and 26 million loaves of bread, the kitchens have gone cold—starved not of will, but of supplies.

For months, WCK adapted against all odds—burning olive pits, using wooden planks, altering recipes to stretch dwindling fuel. But even resilience has its limits. With border crossings sealed since March and no fuel or ingredients allowed in, 80% of their community kitchens have now run out of stock. Their mobile bakery, once a symbol of hope, has ceased production due to the flour shortage.

Each day before the shutdown, WCK served 133,000 meals and baked 80,000 loaves. Now, the silence of the ovens echoes the silence of an indifferent world.

The organisation continues to provide what little drinking water it can. But its trucks, packed with food and fuel, remain stuck at the borders—unable to move without permission. Supplies wait in Egypt and Jordan, just out of reach.

In its statement, WCK called on the international community to lift the blockade and allow aid to reach the besieged. It warned that the restrictions have already claimed the lives of at least 57 people from hunger—most of them children. The kitchen may have stopped, but Gaza’s hunger has not.