Extract from ABC News
From cinnamon buns to burgers, fruit tarts to spaghetti, Mokhtar gets wildly creative to feed kids in Rafah. (Instagram: @dr.mo5tar_)
Looking down the barrel of the camera, the determination and passion are clear to see in Mokhtar Hamdi's eyes.
From underneath the bench, he pulls out large pots and pans and other utensils and gets to work.
From cinnamon buns to burgers, fruit tarts to spaghetti, Mokhtar seems to make the impossible possible from his makeshift kitchen in Rafah, in Gaza's south.
"All I am looking for is the smile of the children I serve, this is the result I look for, the things they say to me, their gratitude and love," Mokhtar told the ABC via voice note.
"There are many kids at my camp that I see on daily basis, and they are sad, they cannot find anything delicious to eat — the food they eat follows the same routine that is repeated and not tasty.
"This is why I decided to practice my hobby and to dedicate it to serve children, to feed them with food that I love and I make with all the love for them."
And he has documented those smiles, often coated in the remnants of the sweet treats he is offering up, on his Instagram account.
That is, when he was not sheltering like others from the fighting.
"I am trying to alleviate the suffering of the children who live nearby, and around me in the same camp," he said.
"However, the Gaza Strip is full of camps and hungry children unfortunately and the famine continues to exist."
The high cost of cooking in Gaza
Mokhtar's hobby is getting more and more difficult by the week.
Not only does he need a sound knowledge of the techniques and recipes to make the meals, but he and his family also have to scrounge the utensils he needs and the supplies to start cooking.
Mokhtar cooks everything from hot chocolate and desserts, to his own version of McDonalds. (Instagram: @dr.mo5tar_)
"It takes me sometimes 10 days looking for ingredients for a recipe," he said.
"Sometimes I look for alternatives of the main ingredients of a recipe so that I can cook something special for the children.
"I only used food from distributed aid once — however most of the recipes I filmed are from things that I bought from the market, which again not easy at all, and is very costly too."
Aid shortages in Gaza have been well-documented, and warnings have been issued by organisations including the United Nations that Palestinians in some parts of the territory are on the brink of starvation.
Israel insists there is no limit to the aid it will allow into Gaza, but humanitarian agencies say it is not safe to distribute it through the war-ravaged territory.
Data from the Israeli agency that manages and coordinates aid crossing the border, COGAT, shows aid deliveries have ticked upwards to more than 95,000 tonnes in December.
That is up from almost 34,000 tonnes in October — the lowest level since the start of the Gaza war.
Aid groups say there are widespread food shortages across Gaza. (Reuters: Mohammed Salem)
Some of the aid that is making it into the territory is being looted by gangs.
Those factors combined are making what is for sale in Gaza's markets exorbitantly expensive and limited in range.
"Usually, I cook three times a week … however, sometimes we face difficulty in providing the food, so sometimes it is two times a week, sometimes four," Mokhtar said.
"There is no specific number of days, it depends on the availability of ingredients.
"For example [in November] I did not cook at all — the borders were closed, and I could not find anything at the market, even flour was not available."
War forcing a career change
Four days into the war between Israel and Gaza, Mokhtar's world crumbled.
Two months earlier, he had opened a dental laboratory after investing his life's savings into the business. And then it was hit in an Israeli strike.
The day before that devastating strike, Mokhtar had been injured in another Israeli attack — this time on his neighbour's house — leading him to spend more than a month in hospital.
He fled Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched strikes on alleged Hamas targets in the area.
Mokhtar reunited with his family in Khan Younis, before being displaced once more and moving on to Rafah in Gaza's south.
His injuries still require treatment to this day, more than a year after he was hit.
The focus for Mokhtar now is on his culinary pursuits.
"The situation forced me to practice my hobby because we are in dire need for such a thing," he said.
"The team who is helping me is my family, my mother, my father and brothers, and cousins.
"It is true that there are still many camps and children who are unable to get food.
"Many of them suffer a lot and do not get food, the crisis still exists and it is getting worse and worse."
Despite everything Mokhtar and his family have experienced, he hopes he has made a difference.
"Eventually the war will end, and what would remain is these memories and good moments that I managed to create and leave for these children," he said.
"They will have them kept in their memories.
"They will remember me too, and this is something major for me."
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