لقمة العيش

This photo essay is an output of a collaboration project between the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and AlAzhar University – Gaza, titled ‘Coping with Food Insecurity in Gaza: The Role of Community-based Initiatives’. This research project investigates the conditions under which mutual aid is effective in delivering food, including for particularly vulnerable groups. The project is part of the Middle East Centre Palestine Programme; it was managed by the LSE Middle East Centre and financed by the LSE Urgency Fund (2024– 25). The views expressed are solely those of the contributors. The field research conducted in Gaza encompassed administration of a crisis coping questionnaire, interviews with organisers and users of community kitchens, and participant observation as local researchers took part in mutual food aid activities involving their families and communities. As approved by the LSE Research Ethics Committee, data collection followed strict ‘safetyfirst’ guidance and research integrity protocols. The primary data in this photo essay is mainly sourced from the field journals of the local Gaza researchers, representing their lived experience of food availability – particularly flour and bread – during 2024 and 2025. The researchers’ entries are not always in Modern Standard Arabic (الفصحى); they are verbatim to maintain their authentic expression. Photos taken by researchers have been credited. The Arabic title of the photo essay, lukmat al’aysh (لقمة العيش ), translates literally as ‘a bite of bread’, but can also mean ‘livelihood’ or ‘bread and butter’.