In a scene reminiscent of a bygone era, the streets and displacement camps of the Gaza Strip have been transformed into makeshift workshops for bread production. Thousands of residents have been forced to turn to primitive ovens fueled by firewood and timber as the sole solution to a worsening bread shortage.
This shift has been necessitated by the ongoing disruption of fuel and cooking gas supplies for weeks, which has caused a significant number of automated bakeries to cease operations. The crisis coincides with the recent limited availability of wheat flour, compelling families to seek any means possible to convert this flour into loaves of bread.
Daily scenes now show families lining up in queues beside rudimentary clay ovens, erected next to destroyed homes or within overcrowded displacement tents. These ovens have become a new lifeline—a desperate attempt to secure the most basic sustenance amid a suffocating humanitarian crisis and a severe shortage of all essential services.
Citizens report that securing a loaf of bread has become a daily challenge, nearly comparable to the struggle of surviving bombardment. They explain that reverting to wood-fired cooking is a direct result of the harsh living conditions imposed by the ongoing war.
The suffering is compounded for families who have lost their homes and sources of income during the conflict. Parents are forced to spend their remaining savings or barter valuable possessions for firewood to cook meals.
Aid workers warn that while these practices meet an urgent need, they also carry significant health risks due to the dense smoke. Furthermore, they place an additional burden on women and children, who often bear the responsibility of gathering wood and maintaining the fires under extremely harsh conditions.
This situation underscores the depth of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Under the strain of siege and severed supply lines, residents have been compelled to revive the survival methods of their ancestors in a frantic race against time and hunger, a direct consequence of the ongoing war.