Faced with significant food shortages after nearly 14 months of war, Palestinians describe long days searching for flour or bread in the conflict-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Every morning, crowds form in front of the few bakeries open in the Palestinian territory, in the desperate hope of getting some food.
“I walked about eight kilometers to get bread,” said Hatem Kullab, a displaced Palestinian living in a makeshift tent neighborhood.
Since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza last year, international charities and aid groups have repeatedly warned of the levels of famine plaguing the enclave’s nearly two million residents.
A United Nations-backed assessment last month warned of looming famine in northern Gaza, as an Israeli offensive virtually halted the arrival of food aid to the region. Water and medicine are also scarce.
Gazans are now waking up at dawn to try to ensure they can get flour or bread, with availability at an all-time high.
“There is no flour, no food, no vegetables in the markets,” said Nasser Al-Shawa, 56. Like most residents, he was forced to leave his home because of the bombings and lives with his children and grandchildren in central Gaza.
The price of available food has skyrocketed.
In Gaza, where more than half of the buildings have been destroyed, production is almost at a standstill. Flour mills, flour storage warehouses and industrial bakeries can no longer operate because they have been heavily damaged by the strikes.
Humanitarian aid is trickling in, but aid groups repeatedly complain that Israel imposes many constraints on them – a charge Israel denies.
The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) announced on Sunday that it was suspending aid deliveries to Gaza through the key crossing point of Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), saying deliveries had become impossible, partly due to looting by gangs.
For Layla Hamad, who lives in a tent with her husband and seven children in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, UNRWA’s decision was “like a bullet to the head.”
She said her family regularly received “a small amount” of flour from UNRWA.
“Every day I think that we will not survive, either because we will be killed by Israeli bombings or by hunger,” she said. “There is no third option.”
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