In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian population affected by the war is increasing calls for help in the face of a serious shortage of bread, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In front of the few bakeries still open, crowds form every morning, hoping to be able to obtain a bag of bread, sometimes tiny. In Khan Younès (south), AFP photographers saw dozens of people gathered near a distribution point, their bodies pressed against each other.
On Friday, two women and a young girl died, trampled, during a stampede in front of a bakery in Deir Al-Balah (center). “To get a bag of bread, it can take a whole day, between eight and ten hours”noted the brother of one of the women, Jamil Fayyad.
Residents explain how difficult it is to find 50 kilo bags of flour, the ones they bought before the war for several weeks and which today sell for between 500 and 700 Israeli shekels (between 130 and 180 euros).
On Sunday, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced the suspension of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip from a key crossing point with Israel, as the delivery had become « impossible » partly due to looting by organized gangs.
This decision is “like a bullet to the head”describes Layla Hamad, 39, a refugee with her cancer-sick husband and her seven children in a tent in Al-Mawasi (south). “Now, we tell ourselves every day that we will not survive, either because of the bombings or because of the famine. »
UNRWA announced on Tuesday an exceptional distribution of flour for families with more than ten members initially, but it admits that it only has a limited stock.
