Bakeries go dark in Gaza as Israel cuts off fuel to 2.1 million people
UNRWA continues to distribute flour bags to the residents of the Gaza Strip in Jabalia, 9 March 2025
Tareq S. Hajjaj reports in Mondoweiss on 10 March 2025:
Bassam Qanna stands outside his bakery, which has been shut down for days now, as more than a thousand people pass by every day asking if there’s any bread. Each time, he has to tell them the same thing: his cooking gas has run out, and he can’t get more. His bakery, like many others in Khan Younis, relies entirely on the World Food Program, which provides everything needed to make bread in exchange for a portion of the bakery’s output — usually 30 to 50 percent.
Qanna’s bakery produces 360 bags of bread a day. But now it is one of six bakeries that have closed due to Israel’s closure of Gaza’s crossings, blocking essential aid, including fuel, and making it impossible to operate. Retailers of basic goods, like Qanna, are forced to shut down.
“I have everything ready in my bakery. If I had cooking gas, I would start right away and provide bread for people. I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute, but I can’t work because there’s no gas,” Qanna tells Mondoweiss. He points out that there are no alternatives for commercial ovens, and since the war, firewood prices have soared. Before the war, firewood cost 0.5 shekels per kilo; now it’s over 50 shekels.
“If the crossings stay closed and fuel is cut off, how are we supposed to work?” he asks. “There’s no substitute for gas, and firewood isn’t an option. Its price is much higher than gas when it’s available.”