A charity kitchen brings hope to displaced Palestinians in the West Bank during Ramadan

TULKAREM, West Bank (AP) — At a makeshift kitchen inside a city office building, volunteers rub paprika, oil and salt on slabs of chicken before arraying them on trays and slipping them into an oven. Once the meat is done, it is divided into portions and tucked into plastic foam containers along with piles of yellow rice scooped from large steel pots.

The unpaid chefs at the Yasser Arafat Charity Kitchen in the city of Tulkarem are hoping their labors will provide a modicum of joy to displaced Palestinians trying to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

An Israeli military raid launched in the West Bank weeks ago has uprooted more than 40,000 people. Israel says it was meant to stamp out militancy in the occupied region, which has experienced a surge of violence since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

The raid has been deadly and destructive, emptying out several urban refugee camps that house descendants of Palestinians who fled wars with Israel decades ago.

The refugees have been told they will not be allowed to return for a year. In the meantime, many of them have no access to kitchens, are separated from their communities, and are struggling to mark the end of the daily Ramadan fast with what are typically lavish meals.

“The situation is difficult,” said Abdullah Kamil, governor of the Tulkarem area. He said some are drawing hope from the charity kitchen, which has expanded its usual operations to provide daily meals for up to 700 refugees, an effort to “meet the needs of the people, especially during the month of Ramadan."

For Mansour Awfa, 60, the meals are a bright spot in a dark time. He fled from the Tulkarem refugee camp in early February and does not know when he can return.

“This is the house where I was raised, where I lived, and where I spent my life,” he said of the camp. “I’m not allowed to go there.”

Awfa, his wife and four children have been living in a relative’s city apartment, where they sleep on thin mattresses on the floor.

“Where do we go? Where is there to go?” he asked. “But thanks to God, we are waiting to receive meals and aid from some warmhearted people.”