Bakeries finally reopen in northern Gaza as Palestinians continue to fight famine
Palestinians gather to buy bread from a bakery which went back into service after being shut down for several months due to the lack of flour and energy, amid the ongoing Israel war, Gaza City, 19 April 2024
Tareq S. Hajjaj reports in Mondoweiss on 22 April 2024:
Lines of thousands of Palestinians with pale faces covered with sweat and smoke. Lean and hungry bodies, standing in a long line for hours, almost the entire day, from morning until night, standing in place.
They are all residents and families of the northern Gaza Strip are happy today despite their exhaustion and hunger, which has continued for six months.
This is a day of satisfaction, as bakeries finally operated again this past week for the first time since the beginning of the war in October 2023. They were able to distribute bread to people who had been living through a famine during which they lost their loved ones and children.
Ahmad Abdel Rahman, 34, a father of five children, has been standing in line for four hours along with thousands who went to buy bread today. This is the first day that this bakery has opened its doors in seven months of war.
The queue for bread at a bakery which returned to service after being shut down for several months due to the lack of flour and energy, amid the ongoing war, Gaza City, 19 April 2024
“I will not leave this place until I return to my family carrying bread fit for human consumption. We lived through difficult times, eating from the grass of the earth and making bread from animal feed. We hope to not eat this anymore; we hope to eat bread today,” Abdel Rahman told Mondoweiss.
Bakeries have closed their doors since the beginning of the war due to a shortage of flour, gas, and manpower. Israel also destroyed a large number of bakeries in Gaza, as the occupation deliberately created famine to force Palestinians to leave north Gaza.
The remaining bakeries are re-opening their doors after humanitarian aid has finally entered northern Gaza. The authorities in north Gaza have distributed it to the bakeries and the population to facilitate production and ease the burden of suffering during this famine.
Several mainstays are still missing in the north of the Gaza Strip, especially at affordable prices. Many vegetables, fruits, and flour, are now slowly available, but not everything people need.