After nearly 14 months of war, Palestinians in Gaza are facing severe food shortages, with many describing long, exhausting days spent searching for flour or bread in the war-torn territory.
Each morning, crowds gather outside the few bakeries still operating in Gaza, hoping for a small chance to secure some food.
“I walked about eight kilometers (five miles) to get bread,” said Hatem Kullab, a displaced Palestinian living in a makeshift tent settlement.
Since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza, charities and international aid organizations have repeatedly warned of an escalating hunger crisis affecting the enclave’s population of around two million people.
A UN-backed report last month warned of the imminent threat of famine in northern Gaza, as Israeli military actions have nearly halted food aid to the region. Access to clean water and medicines is also becoming increasingly scarce.
Gaza’s residents now wake up at dawn in a desperate attempt to secure what little food is available, as flour and bread stocks reach an all-time low.
“There is no flour, no food, no vegetables in the markets,” said 56-year-old Nasser Al-Shawa. Like many others, he had to flee his home due to bombings and now lives with his children and grandchildren in central Gaza. The prices of whatever food is available have soared.
With over half of Gaza’s buildings destroyed, production has nearly come to a halt. Flour mills, storage facilities, and industrial bakeries have been severely damaged by airstrikes, preventing them from functioning.
While humanitarian aid is trickling in, aid organizations have repeatedly criticized Israel for imposing severe restrictions on the delivery of aid, an accusation that Israel denies. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced on Sunday that it had to halt aid deliveries through the critical Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing due to looting and other complications.
For Layla Hamad, who lives in a tent with her husband and seven children in southern Gaza’s al-Mawasi, the UNRWA’s decision felt like “a bullet to the head.”
Her family had relied on receiving small amounts of flour from UNRWA.
“Every day, I think we won’t survive, either from Israeli bombing or from hunger,” she said. “There’s no third option.”
