A man in Northern Virginia is using an online fundraiser and personal connections to raise money and feed people who are starving in the war-torn city of Gaza.
While Hani Almadhoun now lives in Annandale, he grew up in Gaza. His parents and siblings still live there.
“We worry for their safety because the war and the killing hasn’t stopped around them,” Almadhoun said. “It’s not easy.”
Some of Almadhoun’s family members and friends launched the Gaza Soup Kitchen, which helps to feed thousands of people, and Almadhoun has been funding the effort by raising money on a GoFundMe page.
It has been a huge success, with the page generating more than $1 million in just the last few months.
“There wasn’t enough people stepping up to provide meals, so I figured I must do something,” Almadhoun said. “One thing leads to another and this thing goes viral for all the right reasons and ends up doing something good for people who would go hungry otherwise.”
The Gaza Soup Kitchen is now able to feed up to around 3,000 people every day.
“We could do this for months,” said Almadhoun. “I think we’re set for at least six months or even more.”
An independent group of experts warned that it’s possible that famine is underway in northern Gaza but that the war between Israel and Hamas and restrictions on humanitarian access have impeded the data collection to prove it.
“It is possible, if not likely,” the group known as the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, said about famine in Gaza.
The U.N. and international aid agencies for months have said not enough food or other humanitarian supplies are entering Gaza, and Israel faces mounting pressure from its top ally — the United States — and others to let in more aid.
Israel has repeatedly denied there is a famine underway in Gaza and rejected allegations it has used hunger as a weapon in its war against Hamas. It has opened a number of new crossings into Gaza in recent months, claiming they helped increase the flow of aid.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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