Shops in Khan Yunis Out of Basic Supplies After 40 Days of War
(AWP) - Palestinians in Gaza have hardly ever enjoyed prosperity, living under full blockade by Israel since Hamas took over its leadership in 2007, but 40 days of the ongoing war have taken the crisis to another level, with stores that lack the most basic foodstuffs.
A tour in a large store in al-Qarara area in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, is enough to show how basic goods like flour, sugar and salt have disappeared, as shoppers say they can’t find any of their household needs.
"We came to the store to get some food, but there are more people here than available goods. Unfortunately, as you can see the shelves are empty; we can’t find anything essential. People are in a very difficult state, and basic items are not available, not even flour or lentils. Everything is unavailable,” said shopper Mohammed al-Saqqa, while pushing an empty cart.
He added that dairy products have disappeared entirely from stores.
Outside the almost empty store, hundreds of other Palestinians line up in long queues outside the only working bakery in the area, in hopes of getting a loaf of bread, as the United Nations announced the entrance of more than 1000 trucks carrying aid to the Gaza Strip during the past few weeks.
Nonetheless, Mohammed Nashwan, one of thousands of Palestinians who was forced to flee his house in the north to the south of the Strip, says that his children have not eaten bread for four days.
"Our children have not tasted a single loaf of bread for four days now. Why is the agency [UNRWA] distributing flour to those in shelter centres who have lost their homes, and we have to manage manage on our own? This is what we want; at least it would ease the crisis" - Mohammed Nashwan
Nashwan does not blame bakeries for the bread crisis, as they have run out of the fuel needed to function due to Israel’s cutting off any fuel to the Gaza Strip since the war broke out on October 7th.
Waleed Omran, manager of a bakery that went out of service few days ago, says that UNRWA stopped providing bakeries with flour to distribute it to the displaced people in schools and other shelter centres.
"As you can see, there are no raw materials, no flour, and no sugar," he added.