11-08-2025
Helping starving Gazans from 3,000 miles away in Manchester
Ghassan was sitting in his Manchester room when we arrived to meet him. He was answering phone calls from his team trying to work out how many families they could feed – 3,000 miles away in Gaza.
Ghassan Ghaben, who is Palestinian and was born in Gaza, is the co-founder of Reviving Gaza, a mutual aid group set up to help displaced Palestinian families. He runs the group with his sister Amal, who's now based in Egypt, and a network of volunteers inside the strip.
At first, their focus was on helping people survive the bombardment or displacement. But now, they're are simply trying to
feed
as many people as possible.
In March,
Israel
cut off all supplies to Gaza. By May, some aid resumed but under new restrictions. The
UN
has since warned that the worst-case scenario of famine is currently unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Starvation is spreading and children under five are dying from hunger-related causes.
Ghassan says: 'The Israelis don't wany any organisations working efficiently in Gaza and distributing food the way it should be distributed. They want chaos. Those big organisations are not able to do any work but for us it's different. We have the people from there and they have the contacts.'
'The Israelis don't wany any organisations working efficiently in Gaza and distributing food the way it should be distributed. They want chaos.'
– Ghassan Ghaben
The Israeli authorities deny they are blocking the flow of aid and say the UN are failing to distribute it. They also accuse Hamas of stealing it, but internal US government analysis also found no evidence of systematic theft of US-funded aid.
But since May, the main way to get aid has been at the controversial US-Israel backed GHF sites.
Not everyone is able to access aid distribution sites and prices have skyrocketed in Gaza's markets. So the Reviving Gaza team are stepping in, using money raised from donations to buy food that is too expensive for most Gazans – and then distributing it more evenly.
Amal says they're focused on helping the most vulnerable 'orphans, mothers alone, and the elderly', those who have no way of accessing food. But with limited access to food and funds, they can only feed families day by day.
Later in the afternoon, Ghassan calls Ola, one of the team's volunteers in Gaza. The 20 year old smiles as Ghassan calls but her smile hides the risks of the job. At least three Reviving Gaza volunteers have been killed, among them Frans Al Salmi – a talented artist and life-long friend of Amal's who was in charge of aid distribution in the north.
'I know she's not with me now but her soul is with me always. I open her messages everyday.'
For Amal, Frans's legacy is about Gazans helping each other survive; one day at a time.
Only 14 per cent of aid needed has entered Gaza since May, Israeli data shows
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