Food prices in Gaza have skyrocketed in the past month amid Israel's bombardment and suffocating blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics called the October surge "unprecedented". Saturday (Nov 25) marked the second day of a four-day ceasefire deal as Palestinians took a break from fighting to stock up on essential supplies.
Thousands of people were seen crowding around stalls and shops in the Gaza Strip's Nuseirat market to secure much-needed food supplies, Al Jazeera reported. People across the Gaza Strip stood in long ques to buy wheat and other basic goods.
Food and beverage prices rose 10 percent in October, while vegetable and wheat flour prices rose 32 percent and 65 percent, respectively, the bureau said. The price of water has increased by hundred percent.
Israel suspended aid deliveries to the enclave and limited fuel supplies after the conflict began on October 7. Even the bakeries became inactive due to lack of wheat flour, water and fuel.
The United Nations said a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas had enabled the largest delivery of food, water and medicine since humanitarian aid resumed in Gaza on October 21.
A shipment of 61 trucks carrying aid has arrived in Gaza City and northern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Saturday. Residents of these areas have been ordered to evacuate by the Israeli military.
The United Nations said earlier this month that people in the north are "resulting in negative coping mechanisms due to food shortages. Among them there are – skipping or reducing food and using unsafe and unsanitary methods for making fire.
PRCS said Saturday's delivery was the largest since the war began. The trucks were loaded with “food and non-food items, water, basic health care medicines and emergency medical supplies.
As part of a four-day deal between Hamas and Israel, 137 aid trucks entered Gaza on Friday.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 129,000 liters of fuel, including four trucks carrying cooking gas, entered Gaza for the first time since October 7.
Aid agencies say more is needed to help the 2.3 million people living in the besieged enclaves. They termed the situation on the ground as "disastrous".
More than 1.7 million people have been forcibly displaced across the Gaza Strip. They have sheltered many UN schools, which are facing severe overcrowding.
According to the United Nations, 2.2 million people need food aid to survive.