English Section

Polish charity plans field kitchen in Gaza to serve up to 10,000 meals a day

17.10.2025 14:00
A Polish nonprofit plans to launch a mobile kitchen in the Gaza Strip to serve thousands of hot meals daily, aiming to reach people facing acute hunger amid disrupted aid deliveries and closed border crossings.
Israeli patrolling along the Israeli Gaza border in southern Israel following the Israel-Hamas agreement, 14 October 2025,
Israeli patrolling along the Israeli Gaza border in southern Israel following the Israel-Hamas agreement, 14 October 2025, Photo: EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Fundacja Wolne Miejsce said it intends to open a “Polish Kitchen” in Gaza, where, according to the United Nations, more than half a million people are suffering from hunger. Volunteers plan to distribute hot meals to those who “lost everything.”

The group’s mission centers on a mobile field kitchen capable of preparing up to 10,000 hot meals per day. Volunteers also plan to bring water, hygiene and medical supplies, and long-shelf-life food.

Access to drinking water and food is limited, and the humanitarian system has largely collapsed, the foundation said. The Rafah crossing — previously a key route for aid — remains closed. While its reopening was part of an agreement, Hamas has not yet returned the bodies of hostages abducted on Oct. 7, 2023. The group said international pressure could create conditions for reopening Rafah, enabling on-the-ground relief efforts.

Poland’s armed forces have offered to transport volunteers and humanitarian cargo to Egypt, the foundation said, describing it as logistical support for the planned mission.

“Our mission is simply to be where people most need support. Just as we were in Turkey after the earthquake, or on the border with Ukraine, now we want to be in Gaza,” said Mikołaj Rykowski, the foundation’s president.

Fundacja Wolne Miejsce has supported lonely, poor and marginalized people for more than 20 years. It organizes Christmas Eve dinners for those alone, runs social stores, and responds to crises in Poland and abroad. It has cooperated with World Central Kitchen, serving hundreds of thousands of meals to refugees from Ukraine and to victims of the earthquake in Turkey.

(jh)

Source: TVP Info