Hamada Shaqura’s Recipes Of Resilience Win Prestigious James Beard Award (image-instagram/hamadashoo)
Amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Hamada Shaqura, a Gazan chef, transformed his sorrow into strength, using his culinary talents to feed his community and share their story with the world. His cooking videos, made in the middle of the destruction, touched millions and won him the 2025 James Beard Broadcast Media Emerging Voice Award. But by the time the honour was announced, Hamada was struggling to find food for his own family. “Each meal prepared from an aid package tells a story of hope and determination,” he said.
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Before the genocide, his posts featured photos of warm flatbreads, wraps brimming with savoury fillings, and crispy, juicy brosted chicken. But now, Hamada’s feed is filled with videos of him using his culinary skills, sharp editing, and intense gaze to craft meals from limited aid supplies. Shaqura’s cuisine includes beef tacos, “Gazan style,” pizza wraps, and a deep-fried “golden sandwich,” which he films as he cooks and offers to the tent camp’s hungry children.
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Barefoot children run through the ruins of Khan Younis to Hamada’s tent, eagerly asking, “What will you prepare today?” And they seem to love what he makes. “Zakee (delicious)!” a boy exclaims in a video, beaming after taking a bite.
In April 2024, Hamada along with others launched a Watermelon Relief, an organisation dedicated to providing displaced families with meals, activities and support. Ever since then, he had began cooking in a large scale. However, in 2025, when Israel stopped aids from entering Gaza, things had been like as before.
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After three months of starvation, the siege was partially lifted with the arrival of a new group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) — a U.S.and Israeli backed organisation that distributed limited food supplies. However, Israeli forces had killed more than 330 Palestinians at the GHF distribution site.
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Since then, even well-connected Palestinians like Hamada have been unable to find food for their families.
