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Rising food prices raise the risk of famine in Gaza

Most Palestinians shopping for their families could only find meager offerings in Gaza City’s street markets, frustrated that rising prices and food shortages were putting essential supplies out of reach.

Shopping basket prices have more than quadrupled since the conflict began, adding pressure to families already reeling from Israel’s military campaign and a humanitarian crisis with no ceasefire in sight. “We don’t have vegetables, meat products, eggs or anything,” said Abu Issam, a Palestinian from northern Gaza. “Where are the governments? Where are the people? They are supposed to take care of us, to be kind to the people. Let me tell you something: yesterday I went to bed hungry.”

Three potatoes currently cost 150 shekels (about 37 euros at the current exchange rate). Residents said that before the war, a kilo of potatoes cost two shekels (about 50 cents). A jar of honey that used to cost 25 shekels (six euros) now sells for 85 shekels (22 euros).

Residents say that given the lack of availability of other food products, they rely mainly on canned goods that come through humanitarian aid. “Now we are longing for the grapes that we used to grow on our land… Your son asks you for money to buy some things… But now even 5 shekels are not enough to buy a product,” says Abu Anwar Hasnain, a resident of Gaza.

As long as the war continues and humanitarian access is restricted, Gaza remains at high risk of famine. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) states that more than 495,000 people in Gaza face the most severe and catastrophic level of food insecurity. Even before the conflict, two-thirds of the population lived in poverty and 45% of the workforce was unemployed.

After the war, Gaza’s economy could take decades to recover. “We can’t survive, we can’t buy anything. There’s nothing, we’re not working,” says Mohammed al-Katnani. More than 40,500 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s assault on Gaza and the area has been devastated, according to local health officials. (Reuters)