Deir el-Balah, Gaza – For more than two weeks now, Israel has blocked nearly all food aid from entering northern Gaza, leaving some 400,000 Palestinians living there facing starvation, according to UN estimates.
Israeli attacks and forced evacuation orders have closed food distribution points, kitchens and bakeries. The only functioning bakery in north Gaza, supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), caught fire after Israel struck it with munitions.
Across the Gaza Strip, at least 2.15 million people, or 96 percent of the population, are facing high levels of food shortages, with one in five people facing starvation.
Skyrocketing food prices
Most people in Gaza lack the means to buy essential goods and depend on charity kitchens and aid distributions for food and cash coupons.
Most of them have lost their jobs as the economy collapsed due to Israel’s ongoing assault. Whatever cash savings and items they had for bartering have all but run out.
The graphic below summarises food prices in north and south Gaza as of September. These prices may fluctuate greatly based on availability and are far beyond people’s financial means.
Prices of essential items have skyrocketed. Flour, for example, costs $150 for a 25kg (approximately 55-pound) bag in the south and up to $1,000 per bag in the north.
Before the war, a dozen eggs cost $3.50. It now sells at $32 in the south and about $73 in the north.
Non-dairy powdered milk is now sold in the north for $1 a spoonful, or $124 a kilo (2.2 pounds).
Infant formula is largely unavailable in the north and costs $15 a tin in the south. An average tin is approximately 350gm (12 ounces)
Fresh produce, including cucumbers and tomatoes, are among the most expensive after Israel destroyed most of Gaza’s farms, wells and greenhouses.
Before and after satellite images show vehicle tracks over the once-fertile regions of Beit Lahiya, which was once known for its juicy strawberries that locals fondly called “red gold”.
