At Al-Yamama delivery company in the Gaza City, the floor is filled with boxes of fast food with the famous face of Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC.
However, there are no KFC restaurant in this Palestinian coastal sliver of land as the regular absence of raw materials and Israeli restrictions on Gaza crossings make it difficult to open an international fast food branch here.
But ordering fast food from one of the world’s most popular restaurants has become possible in Gaza after Al-Yamama started to bring the food from the Egyptian North Sinai, which borders Gaza.
The fried chicken make their way from one of the many underground smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border.
Mohammed Al-Madani, an accountant at Al-Yamama company, said they started their new business by chance. “We ordered and arranged to bring some meals for us and they arrive after four hours,” he said.
Then they posted a picture for the fast food on their company’s website, and soon got more orders from the people in Gaza, he introduced.
Since late last month, they have made four deliveries of KFC food to Palestinians in Gaza, with every delivery including about two dozens of combos.
The clients include both those who have traveled outside Gaza and the people who never stepped a foot out of Gaza.
“It’s delicious even as it’s not hot,” said Aboud Fares, a 22- year-old student, as he bit a mouthful of a chicken breast. His sister, who traveled several times to Egypt, was enjoying the KFC apple pie.
The price of a KFC family meal is about 80 Egyptian pounds ( about 11 U.S. dollars) at el-Arish KFC restaurant, but getting it in Gaza costs as much as 100 Israeli Shekels (30 dollars).
The delivery company says the higher price is due to the transportation and smuggling fees.
Al-Madani also said that they do not face a lot obstacles in bringing the food to Gaza, but the delivery may be delayed due to various reasons.
“Sometimes Hamas checks the meal boxes and sometimes the taxi that picks up the orders from Sinai is late,” he said.
Xinhuanet
