In the Gaza Strip, walking kilometers to get bread or flour
In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian population affected by the war is increasing calls for help in the face of a serious shortage of bread, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
In front of the few bakeries that are still open, a crowd gathers every morning hoping to get their hands on a bag of bread, sometimes a tiny one. In Khan Younès (south), AFP photographers saw dozens of people gathered near a distribution point, their bodies pressed against each other.
On Friday, two women and a young woman were trampled to death during a stampede in front of a bakery in Deir Al-Balah (center). “To get a bag of bread it can take a whole day, between eight and ten hours”said the brother of one of the women, Jamil Fayyad.
Residents explain how difficult it is to find 50-kilogram bags of flour, which they bought before the war for several weeks and which today sell for between 500 and 700 Israeli shekels (between 130 and 180 euros).
On Sunday, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced the suspension of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip from a key border point with Israel, as the delivery had become a ” impossible “ partly due to looting by organized gangs.
This decision is “like a bullet to the head”describes Layla Hamad, 39, a refugee with her cancer-stricken husband and seven children in a tent in Al-Mawasi (south). “Now we tell ourselves every day that we will not survive, whether because of the bombings or because of famine. »
UNRWA announced on Tuesday an exceptional distribution of flour for families initially consisting of more than ten members, but admits that it has limited stocks.
