Israeli Starvation Policy in Gaza: A Daily Struggle for a Single Loaf of Bread
As Israel tightens its blockade, Palestinians in Gaza face severe food shortages, with families surviving on minimal bread rations amid skyrocketing prices and looming famine.
Watan-With her frail body, 50-year-old Samira Mohammed emerges from a long line of Palestinian women crowding outside a bakery in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Holding a small bundle of bread tightly in her trembling hands, she clutches it as if fearing it might be snatched away.
Her sunken eyes, filled with anxiety and anticipation, tell a story of months of starvation, barely surviving amid Israel’s severe restrictions on humanitarian aid. These restrictions have choked Gaza for nearly 16 months as part of Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Even as the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on January 19, came to an end, Israel renewed its blockade, halting aid deliveries once again.
After standing in line for hours, from 7:30 AM, Mohammed finally secured a single bundle of bread weighing just 2 kilograms.
Speaking with frustration and anger over Israel’s deliberate starvation policy, she said:”This small bundle must be shared among 20 family members.”On Sunday, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thamin Khaitan urged the international community to prevent famine in Gaza.
Each 2-kilogram bundle contains just 23-24 medium-sized loaves of bread—meaning each person in Mohammed’s family will receive only one loaf, to be split between two meals for the entire day.
In Gaza, long lines form daily outside the few remaining bakeries, which rely on UN food aid and fuel donations from the World Food Program. These bakeries sell bread at a symbolic price of 2-3 shekels (while the dollar equals 3.64 shekels), which is only 25-30% of its actual market price, according to an economic expert.
Israel Uses Starvation as a Weapon
On March 2, Israel shut down all crossings into Gaza once again, cutting off humanitarian aid. This move is seen as an attempt to use starvation as leverage to force Hamas into compliance.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which lasted 42 days, officially ended in early March. However, Israel refused to move into the second phase, which was supposed to bring an end to the war.
A Real Hunger Crisis
The sight of thousands of Palestinians crammed together, waiting for hours for bread, reflects the severity of the growing food crisis in Gaza.
80-year-old Fatima Abu Shaar, walking with a cane and a hunched back, arrived at the bakery hoping to get a bundle of bread to sustain her family during Ramadan.
She confirmed the reality of a severe hunger crisis, adding:”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has starved, displaced, and killed the Palestinian people.”
Describing life under genocide, she continued:”There is no water, no electricity, no food like in the rest of the world—there is no rest, even when we sleep.”
Nearby, a disabled Palestinian woman in a wheelchair waited for her turn at the bakery in Khan Younis. She said:
“The suffering touches every part of life—no bread, no water, no electricity.”
Soaring Prices and Scarcity of Food
Palestinian Mohammed Ghanem, after standing in line for hours, said:”There is nothing available here—everything is too expensive.”
The blockade has caused extreme shortages of cooking gas, flour, and basic food supplies, while the prices of whatever is left have skyrocketed.
On March 3, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reported that Israel’s decision to block Gaza’s supply routes had led to food prices soaring more than 100 times across the strip.
“Life Has Turned Into Suffering”
Leaning against a metal fence while waiting in line, another Palestinian woman described daily life in Gaza as “pure suffering.”
“Getting bread has become a daily torment, just like getting water. Everything requires waiting in endless lines for hours.” She added that the closure of Gaza’s border crossings has cut off essentials like cooking gas and driven vegetable prices to unaffordable levels.
“We stand here all morning in these long lines. Life is unbearable—we suffer greatly just to get a single loaf of bread.”
Many families now survive only on rice distributed by local charities, as job opportunities and sources of income have disappeared.*
World Bank: 100% of Gazans Now Live in Poverty
According to World Bank data, Israel’s 16-month-long genocidal war has plunged all of Gaza’s population into poverty. Government and human rights officials confirm that the vast majority of people in Gaza now rely entirely on humanitarian aid.
Raed Abu Mu’taz, a Palestinian father, said:
“I can no longer provide food for my family due to the tightened Israeli siege.”
He noted that soaring prices have made it impossible to afford even basic necessities.
For the first time in history, Gazans are experiencing a Ramadan marked by extreme siege, mass starvation, and food shortages.
No Alternatives Left
Palestinian economist Mohammed Abu Jayyab explained that the bread crisis in Gaza is no longer just about the availability of flour but about the lack of resources to produce bread at all.
“People don’t even have gas to bake bread. Most family bakeries have shut down because of the border closures.”
Even families with small amounts of flour struggle to bake because of the lack of gas, firewood, or electricity.
During the ceasefire period, many Palestinians resorted to baking their own bread. However, with the latest blockade, they are now forced to wait in bakery lines.
Abu Jayyab noted that the few remaining UN-supported bakeries have become the only source of bread for Gazans.
The price of a bread bundle remains at 2-3 shekels, covering only a fraction of the bakery’s operational costs.
He explained that the heavy crowds at bakeries are due to the unaffordability of home baking, as flour prices have surged from 30-40 shekels per sack to 100 shekels since Israel closed the crossings.
Fearing imminent famine, many Palestinians are stockpiling any flour they have left, preparing for what they believe could be even worse starvation in the coming weeks.
Abu Jayyab warned that if Israel’s blockade continues, Gaza will face an unprecedented hunger crisis in the coming weeks.
Eating Grass to Survive
For months, Palestinians have endured severe starvation due to Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid, forcing them to resort to eating animal feed, grass, and reducing meal portions.
If border closures persist, the humanitarian catastrophe will only worsen.
