RENAD

The Little Gaza Chef Who Cooked Her Way to the World’s Heart

- By Thasmina Sookoor

In a corner of the internet once dominated by influencers selling spotless kitchens and perfect recipes, an eleven-year-old girl from Gaza began posting her own kind of cooking videos. Her name was Renad Attallah, though millions came to know her simply as "Renad from Gaza," the little chef with a big dream, a warm smile, and an even larger audience.

Her Instagram page, @renadfromgaza, is filled with moments that blend the innocence of childhood with the heavy weight of survival. Now, as of late 2025, Renad is in Europe, beginning a new chapter of safety and hope, one that feels worlds away from where her story began.

From a Kitchen Under Siege

Renad started her page in 2023, when Gaza's humanitarian crisis was deepening. Food was scarce, supplies were unpredictable, and cooking, something many take for granted, became an act of creativity and courage. In one of her early videos, Renad can be seen cooking over a small gas stove, smiling shyly as she explains how to prepare a meal from a few salvaged ingredients. There's laughter, there's invention, and there's also the quiet subtext of what's missing. When she couldn't find flour, she used crushed biscuits. When sugar ran out, she found sweetness in dried fruit. Each video felt like a message from a parallel world: a child teaching herself to live, and to dream, amid devastation.

Her caption on one post read: "This is my dream, to be a chef when I grow up. I love food. I love people smiling when they eat." The videos were short, simple, and filmed in natural light, but they spread across the internet like wildfire. Millions began following her journey, captivated by her optimism and her voice.

A Global Symbol of Resilience