Gaza- After learning to close the Gaza Strip bakeries, the elderly Zakaria Shaheen rushed to the automatic bakery near his home, perhaps he was able to buy a little loave to feed his 18 -individual family. But his pursuit of failing.
After some bakery workers asked about the date of resuming the work, they answered that the matter was linked to the opening of the Israeli occupation of the closed crossings for about a month.
On the bakery gate, Shaheen told Al -Jazeera Net that he did not expect this sudden decision, which will negatively reflect on the life of his family, adding, “We do not know what we will eat?” He stated that they were dependent on buying bread from bakeries, but after closing it they no longer had any source of it.
“We do not have the money to buy the flour, and we do not know how we will provide a living for our children … We appeal to those who have compassionate hearts all over the world to look at our Palestinian people with compassion,” he added.
Imminent famine
The head of the “Gaza Strip Bakery Association”, Abdel Nasser Al -Ajrami, warned of a humanitarian catastrophe that threatens the residents of the Strip after the decision to close the bakeries as a result of the continued closure of the crossings, which led to the cessation of food and fuel supplies completely.
Al -Ajrami said, in a special statement to Al -Jazeera Net, that all the bakeries operating in Gaza closed their doors due to the depletion of all production requirements.
He explained that the World Food Program, which was financed 23 baked in flour, fuel, yeast, salt and sugar, was forced to suspend his work because of the depletion of his store and the inability to enter supplies.
He added, “The program was entering production materials through the crossings, because the occupation prohibits merchants and bakeries from direct import, and with the continued closure of the crossings, there is no longer any horizon for the solution.”
The Gaza Strip needs daily, according to Al -Ajrami, about 450 tons of flour, warning that the remaining stocks inside the Strip will only suffice for a few days.
He concluded his speech by saying that “the continuation of the current situation will lead Gaza towards a realistic famine.”
Israel closed the Gaza Strip crossings, at the beginning of last February, after it was evacuated from the implementation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement that it reached with the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” at the end of last January.
Scarce alternatives
After the bakery closure news spread, many residents rushed to try to buy baking alternatives, such as the loave of tabun or pastries, which are not a practical alternative due to the high prices.
Naseem Al -Saks, a “Fashi” bread seller (Al -Saj bread), says that the demand has increased significantly on the purchase of his place, which forced him to close it at midnight last night due to severe pressure.
“Nevertheless, this bread is not a real alternative to regular bread, because it is more expensive and not everyone can buy it.”
Al -Saks indicated that the bread has become sold on the black market at exorbitant prices, amid a state of complete deficit from finding solutions.
In front of a shop selling the tabun bread, Andra Qandil was waiting for her role to buy a few of it to feed her 9 -person family. She told Al -Jazeera Net that she needs daily 40 loaves (from normal bread) and after closing bakeries, she has to stand for long periods in queues to get tabon bread as a substitute.
“From the beginning of the war we are struggling to get bread, and now we went back to the zero point after the bakeries are closed. We no longer have flour, and its price (the bag with a weight of 25 kilograms) has risen from 50 to 300 shekels (the dollar: 3.7 shekels), while we have no money at all.”
“Everything has become the most expensive 10 times … no vegetables, no food, no bread … and we do not know what we will do tomorrow.”
Return to clay ovens
With the continued closure of automatic bakeries in the Gaza Strip, the citizens resorted to the mud canal ovens in search of an alternative to bread, which led to severe crowding and long queues in front of these ovens.
Hisham Al -Zaitouniya, the owner of one of the Taboun ovens, told Al -Jazeera Net that the demand for the ovens increased significantly, as everyone tries to bake the dough manually after the lack of bread in the markets. But the olive explained that clay furnaces also suffer from a lack of firewood to operate it, which impedes the continuation of the work.
“Al -Tabon oven needs a lot of time and effort, and people are suffering waiting for their role amid a strong crowd,” he added.
“No bread or money”
Abu Shanab, a mother of 5 children, says that closing bakeries left families in the face of a suffocating crisis, as they can no longer provide bread, while the price of the flour bag increased significantly.
“People are suffering, she has young children, and she cannot buy flour because there is simply neither money nor work. May God be with everyone’s help.”
“The status of people is bad, closing bakeries at this time is very bad, may God be the help of people,” she concluded.
(Tagstotranslate) Arabic (T) (T) (T) Palestine