Hot Meals and Drinking Water Initiative for Displaced People in West Gaza City Camps

Hot Meals and Drinking Water Initiative for Displaced People in West Gaza City Camps

Hot food and clean water the simplest needs of a tent, and the hardest to reach

100 hot meals and 8,000 litres of desalinated water across four displacement sites

Inside a tent, need does not stop at food. A family with no stove and no fuel cannot cook, and a family surrounded by a saline, damaged water network cannot drink safely. In the camps of western Gaza City, both needs converged: a ready meal to answer hunger, and clean water to guard against waterborne disease.

In response, SAFE delivered a two-component initiative distributing hot meals and desalinated water to displaced people in western Gaza City, supported by Good Planet International, between 22 May and 22 June 2025.

The Initiative in Numbers

Food component 100 hot meals:

• 55 meals inside Al-Akrad camp
• 45 meals for people displaced in tents in the Al-Saraya vicinity

Water component 8 cubic metres of desalinated water (approx. 8,000 litres):

• 4 m³ to Al-Ghurba–Al-Saraya camp
• 4 m³ to Abu Marahil–Al-Thalathini camp

Total support: USD 2,000 | Duration: one full month | Sites reached: four

Why Meals and Water Together?

Because the two interventions address two faces of a single crisis. A ready meal removes the barrier of absent stoves, fuel, and cookware inside tents it arrives ready to eat and requires nothing further from the household. Desalinated water closes a more dangerous gap: Gaza's network water is highly saline, and damage to sanitation infrastructure has raised contamination risks, making safe drinking water a direct preventive measure against waterborne disease among the most pressing health threats in crowded settlements, particularly for children.

Sustained Over a Full Month

The initiative was not a single-day activity but ran for a full month (22 May – 22 June 2025), meaning continuous presence in the targeted sites rather than a one-off visit. This kind of extended intervention allows needs to be monitored and distribution adjusted according to what emerges on the ground, and it builds a relationship of trust with the community served.

SAFE's Role

SAFE delivered the initiative in full, without an implementing partner: identifying target sites and beneficiary households according to need, arranging meal preparation and ensuring food quality and safety, securing desalinated water and transporting it to distribution points, and organising field distribution in a way that preserved the dignity of displaced people and ensured fairness and ease of access.

Partnership That Reaches the Tent

This intervention reflects the value of partnership with international organisations committed to humanitarian and environmental action. Support from Good Planet International enabled a direct response to two essential needs inside displacement sites that often fall outside the scope of larger distributions.

A hot meal answers hunger; clean water prevents disease. The simplest needs of a tent, and the hardest to reach.