Desperation Grows in Gaza as U.N. Shutters Bakeries
Bilal Mohammad Ramadan AbuKresh has lost his home, his job, his wife and seven other relatives during the war in Gaza. Now, as the United Nations closes 25 bakeries across the territory, he is also losing his only reliable source of food.
Before Wednesday, Mr. AbuKresh, 40, said he would leave his tent in a camp for displaced people in northern Gaza at dawn and stand in line for hours at one of the bakeries, waiting for bread for his four children.
'The line was unimaginable, like the Day of Judgment,' Mr. AbuKresh said on Wednesday, the day after the World Food Program, a U.N. agency, said it had run out of the flour and fuel needed to keep the bakeries in Gaza open.
But at least it was affordable, compared to the $30 he paid for a bag of pasta that he bought recently to feed his family.
The lack of humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza over the past month has prompted violent competition for food and driven up prices.
Mr. AbuKresh said he has resorted to selling his children's jewelry and collecting trash to sell to scrounge up enough money just to buy a bit of food. 'To secure a bag of bread for my children, I risk death a hundred times,' he said.
As well as the bakery closures, the World Food Program said on Tuesday that it would distribute its last food parcels by Thursday, and that its remaining supplies in Gaza were expected to run out within two weeks.
The announcement prompted desperate Gazans to rush to U.N. warehouses this week to haul away heavy bags of flour that were being handed out.
The decision to close the bakeries came almost a month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel ordered a halt to all humanitarian aid into Gaza, in an attempt to pressure Hamas into accepting a new hostage release deal as cease-fire negotiations have stalled.
The aid has not resumed and a fragile two-month truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed two weeks later, when Israel launched new airstrikes on the territory.
The bakeries used as much as 300 tons of flour each day, producing enough bread to supply about 70 percent of Gaza's population, Abdel Nasser al-Ajrami, head of the enclave's bakers' association, said in an interview. Five other bakeries in Gaza had already closed last month, he said, when they ran out of supplies.
'Where will people get their food from?' Mr. al-Ajrami said, worrying aloud that Gaza was headed toward an even deeper humanitarian crisis. The United Nations has said the escalating war in Gaza has led to 'unprecedented' need for aid, estimating 91 percent of its population is facing acute food insecurity.
Nearly one-third of the bread made at the U.N.-funded bakeries was distributed for free, he said, and much of the rest was sold as packets of pita for as little as 50 cents.
'It was a way to support thousands of Gazans who lost their jobs and a source of income during the war,' Mr. al-Ajrami said, voicing concern that food shortages could lead to unrest.
'This might cause chaos again across Gaza as people would start fighting for a piece of bread. There might be looting again,' he said.
For weeks, the United Nations has sounded the alarm that humanitarian aid supplies were dwindling, and that attempts to gain access for aid convoys lined up at the border crossings had failed. It has accused Israel of routinely denying U.N. requests for broader efforts to coordinate humanitarian movement inside the enclave, and has said the Israeli army's no-go zones and evacuation order areas covered more than half of Gaza.
COGAT, the Israeli military unit responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Palestinian territories, said in a social media post on Tuesday that 450,000 tons of assistance was delivered to Gaza during the two-month cease-fire, and less than 30 percent of it was from the United Nations.
'Meaning, when the U.N. say they have 2 weeks worth of aid left in Gaza, there are plenty of other aid organizations and other actors with food aid,' COGAT said. 'Much of the aid was diverted and available on the markets,' it added. 'There is enough food for a long period of time, if Hamas lets the civilians have it.'
In a sharp response to Israel, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said aid must be allowed into Gaza immediately and called claims that Gaza had enough food 'ridiculous.'
'W.F.P. doesn't close its bakeries for fun,' he told reporters at the U.N. headquarters in New York. 'If there's no flour, if there's no cooking gas, the bakeries cannot open.'
During the cease-fire, 'we saw humanitarian aid flood Gaza,' he said. 'We saw markets come back to life. We saw prices going down. We saw hostages released, we saw Palestinian detainees released. We need to go back to that.'
Mr. AbuKresh said his family was living in 'unimaginable circumstances' and barely surviving.
'This is beyond description,' he said. 'We've surrendered to death.'
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'If we have another Adre here … it will be a nightmare.' ___
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
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Sudan civil war overwhelms border town in neighbor Chad as refugees find little help
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Overall, only 13% of the requested money to support refugees in Chad this year has come in from all donors, according to U.N. data. In Adre, humanitarian services were already limited as refugees are meant to move to more established camps deeper inside Chad. Many Sudanese, however, choose to stay. Some are heartened by the military's recent successes against rival paramilitary forces in the capital, Khartoum. They have swelled the population of this remote, arid community that was never meant to hold so many. Prices have shot up. Competition over water is growing. Adre isn't alone. As the fighting inside Sudan's remote Darfur region shifts, the stream of refugees has created a new, more isolated transit camp called Tine. Since late April, 46,000 people have arrived. With the aid cuts, there is even less to offer them there. 235,000 Sudanese in a border town Adre has become a fragile frontline for an estimated 235,000 Sudanese. They are among the 1.2 million who have fled into eastern Chad. Before the civil war, Adre was a town of about 40,000. As Sudanese began to arrive, sympathetic residents with longtime cross-border ties offered them land. Now there is a sea of markets and shelters, along with signs of Sudanese intending to stay. Some refugees are constructing multi-story buildings. Sudanese-run businesses form one of Adre's largest markets. Locals and refugees barter in Sudanese pounds for everything from produce to watches. 'There is respect between the communities,' said resident Asadiq Hamid Abdullah, who runs a donkey cart. 'But everyone is complaining that the food is more expensive.' Chad is one of the world's poorest countries, with almost 50% of the population living below the poverty line. Locals say the price of water has quadrupled since the start of Sudan's civil war as demand rises. 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'A vast city,' said Hamit Hadjer Abdullai with Chad's National Commission for the Reception and Reintegration of Refugees. He said crime was increasing. Police warn of the Colombians, a Sudanese gang. Locals said it operates with impunity, though Abdullai claimed that seven leaders have been jailed. 'People must move,' said Benoit Kayembe Mukendi, the U.N. refugee agency's local representative. 'For security reasons and for their protection.' As the Chadian population begins to demand their land back, Mukendi warned of a bigger security issue ahead. But most Sudanese won't go. The AP spoke to dozens who said they had been relocated to camps and returned to Adre to be closer to their homeland and the transit camp's economic opportunities. There are risks. Zohal Abdullah Hamad was relocated but returned to run a coffee stand. One day, a nearby argument escalated and gunfire broke out. Hamad was shot in the gut. 'I became cold. I was immobile,' she said, crying as she recalled the pain. She said she has closed her business. The latest Sudanese arrivals to Adre have no chance to establish themselves. On the order of local authorities, they are moved immediately to other camps. The U.N. said it is transporting 2,000 of them a day. In Tine, arriving Sudanese find nothing The new and rapidly growing camp of Tine, around 180 kilometers (111 miles) north of Adre, has seen 46,000 refugees arrive since late April from Northern Darfur. Their sheer numbers caused a U.N. refugee representative to gasp. Thousands jostle for meager portions of food distributed by community kitchens. They sleep on the ground in the open desert, shaded by branches and strips of fabric. They bring witness accounts of attacks in Zamzam and El-Fasher: rape, robbery, relatives shot before their eyes. With the U.S. aid cuts, the U.N. and partners cannot respond as before, when people began to pour into Adre after the start of the war, U.N representative Jean Paul Habamungu Samvura said. 'If we have another Adre here … it will be a nightmare.' ___ For more on Africa and development: The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
The Hill
7 hours ago
- The Hill
Israel says it killed Hamas founder in strike
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that it had killed Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa, one of the founders of Hamas's military wing, in Gaza City. Israel has killed a number of other high-ranking members of Hamas in the past year, including leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar. The IDF claimed that Al-Issa was one of the last remaining senior members of Hamas in Gaza. The IDF also said in its statement that Al-Issa had played a 'significant' role in planning and carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, during which Hamas fighters killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage. The military also said that Al-Issa had worked to rebuild Hamas systems that were damaged during the war. President Trump said Friday that he thinks a ceasefire in Gaza could come 'within the next week.' Israel's war in the territory has killed more than 55,000 people as food, water and medical supplies have grown scarce. Media reports have also circulated in recent weeks of Israeli troops firing on Palestinians in Gaza waiting at humanitarian aid sites. Tens of thousands of people packed Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for a ceasefire and the return of the remaining hostages, some people holding signs appealing for Trump to end the war. Others condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Several smaller demonstrations in other cities also demanded an end of the war and the return of the hostages.
