Mrs. Najah's Kitchen - Gaza Emergency Meals

Time and time again, we are made to witness the loss and trauma Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank face.

For the past twenty months, Rebuilding Alliance has been delivering hot meals from community kitchens throughout the Gaza Strip. These kitchens were run by everyday people. Neighbors, family, and friends all came together to keep each other alive. These kitchens were not just places where meals are prepared, they were places of resilience, hope, and solidarity — we await the time ahead when food will be available and they will reopen

One young person who stepped forward to help was 20-year-old Hamza Al Jamal.

Hamza was known for his kindness and quiet strength. Before the war, he had just finished grade 12 and began dreaming of what his life could be. He was the middle child in a family of five siblings – a beloved brother, a devoted son, and a friend to many. When the war began, like so many others, Hamza set aside his personal dreams to serve his community, volunteering every day at one of Mrs. Najah’s local kitchens in Khan Younis. After every shift, he would carry meals home to his family, their survival depending on his hard work, determination, and courage.

During the Eid holiday, Hamza left home with his close friend, the son of Mrs. Najah,  and her young grandson, in search of desperately needed aid. As they approached a GHF distribution site, the danger grew. Hamza’s friend urged him to leave, to protect himself, but Hamza couldn’t bear the thought of returning empty-handed to his hungry family.

“I can’t go back to my family with nothing,” he said. “We have no other way to get food.”

Hamza proceeded to the aid site, while his friend and the child left. Soon after, gunfire erupted. His friend and the grandson hid behind a concrete block, eventually escaping, but Hamza never returned home.

For hours, his family searched for him. It wasn’t until photos of the unidentified bodies at the Naser Hospital circulated on social media that his loved ones recognized his face. Family and friends held a small funeral for Hamza, laying him to rest in Khan Younis, near where his family is staying, forcibly relocated from their Rafah home.

Mrs. Najah’s son recalled, with a heavy heart, “We lost Hamza so suddenly. He got nothing — only death.”

Hamza’s story is not an isolated tragedy. Like so many others in Gaza, he was simply trying to find a way to feed his family in the face of unimaginable hardship. Every day, thousands walk for miles, risking everything, because they have no other way to get food for their families. The economic devastation of this war has left families with nothing — and for over a month, there wasn’t even bread..

Hamza should have been preparing for his future, not buried with his dreams in the rubble of war.

Everyone at Rebuilding Alliance mourns Hamza’s loss. His life, his bravery, and his devotion to his family reflect the heart of Gaza — a place where even in the face of extraordinary danger, love for family and community drives people to keep going.

We hold Hamza’s family in our hearts, and we remain steadfast in our commitment as Rebuilding Alliance to continue to find every possible way to help the Palestinian people stay alive as we stand with them in their struggle for safety, dignity, and peace.

May his memory be a blessing, and may his story inspire us to act.