GAZA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Long before dawn illuminates Gaza City's shattered skyline, Mohammed Abu Ali and his three brothers have already gathered in their modest courtyard.

The distant echoes of drones and shelling fade beneath the clatter of pots as the four prepare meals for hundreds of displaced Palestinians, many of whom have not eaten a proper meal in days.

"We boil rice and lentils and make a simple soup," Mohammed, a 45-year-old father of four, told Xinhua as he ladled steaming food into trays.

"I wish I could do more, but the closure of the borders restricts our efforts to help our people," he said.

The family initiative was born about a month ago, after Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Gaza's only commercial gateway to the outside world, amid the collapse of a January ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Israel said the closure was meant to pressure Hamas to release more Israeli hostages, while Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, which had been brokered to ease Gaza's humanitarian suffering.

To make things worse, Israel then resumed deadly air and ground assaults on the Palestinian enclave on March 18, which have so far killed 1,391 people and injured 3,434 others in Gaza.

The overall death toll in Gaza has reached 50,752, with 115,475 others injured since the very beginning of the Israeli military operations in the enclave on Oct. 7, 2023, Gaza health authorities reported.

The immediate consequence of the Israeli aid blockade and its renewed assaults was devastating -- bakeries shut, markets emptied, and families rationed dwindling supplies. The dire situation prompted Mohammed to pool his family's flour, rice, and canned goods, while his neighbors contributed scraps. Now, Mohammed's courtyard feeds over 400 people daily, mostly women, children, and the elderly.

"People are starving," Mohammed said. "So, my brothers and I collected everything we had at home ... We decided that no one around us should go hungry, even if the food was basic."

"We not only provide food but also try to uplift each other," he said. "Even a warm plate can give someone hope that they are not forgotten."

Across Gaza, similar grassroots efforts have emerged. In a makeshift shelter near Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, 55-year-old Nidal Banat coordinates food distribution among tents housing the displaced. Once a shopkeeper in Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighborhood, Banat lost both his home and livelihood in a single Israeli airstrike.

"I didn't even get the chance to lock the door behind me," Banat told Xinhua. "But the hardest part isn't what we lost. It's knowing the world saw us lose it and did nothing."

"All of us are displaced. All of us are hungry," he said. "We realized that no one is coming to save us ... So, we help each other survive. We are one people, sharing one struggle."

Banat moves between tents, collecting half-bags of rice, dented tins of tomatoes and onions, and splashes of oil for communal meals, especially for those who have got nothing.

"Some people go for days without a proper meal," he said. "So, we gather what we can. Even the smallest donation counts ... We combine everything and cook in big pots so that no one sleeps hungry if we can help it."

"When the children cry from hunger, we look at each other and don't speak. We just act," he said. "We share because that's all we have left each other."

"We used to be proud people -- builders, farmers, shopkeepers. Now we're beggars in our own land," Banat said bitterly. "But even in this humiliation, we keep our heads high because we are still standing."

As smoke from recent Israeli airstrikes lingers on the horizon, Banat paused. "We may be broken, but we are not defeated," he said.

"Gaza is more than rubble. It's a spirit that refuses to die," he said. Enditem

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