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Scene. Source: Screenshot. Published by IMEMC News.
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by IMEMC News
April 1, 2025

As of today, Tuesday, all bakeries in the Gaza Strip have indefinitely suspended their operations due to a critical shortage of flour and fuel. This crisis arises from a month-long Israeli blockade that has prevented the entry of essential supplies into the region.

Abdul-Nasser al-Ajrami, head of the Gaza Bakery Association, confirmed that the closures affect bakeries participating in the World Food Program (WFP).

He described the ongoing situation as a relentless “hunger war,” noting that bakeries in southern Gaza ceased operations on Monday, with those in central and northern areas expected to follow suit by the end of today.

Al-Ajrami attributed the shutdowns directly to the Israeli blockade, which has led to acute shortages of flour, fuel, and yeast.

He further highlighted that this deepening crisis has aggravated the already dire living conditions of Gaza’s residents, who continue to suffer under Israeli aggression and now face additional hardships due to a lack of cooking gas, while devasted medical centers continue to suffer serious shortages of medical supplies, and fuel.

The Gaza Strip typically requires 450 tons of flour daily, with local bakeries supplying approximately half of this demand.

The coastal enclave is home to 140 bakeries, 70 of which are automated. Many of these facilities, particularly in northern Gaza, have suffered extensive damage from Israeli airstrikes, with financial losses estimated in the millions of dollars.

Israeli forces assassinated another journalist on Tuesday before dawn, dropping a missile on his house and killing him, along with his family in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip.

Since the resumption of the genocide in Gaza on March 18th, 1,042 civilians have been killed and 2,583 others injured, most of them children and women.

At least 322 Palestinian children have been killed in Israeli attacks since the resumption of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, with an average of approximately 100 children killed or maimed daily over the past 10 days, according to UNICEF, the UN agency for children.

The total death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 50,399, including 15.617 children and 9,802 women, and the number of injuries to 114,583, since October 7, 2023. This is likely a severe undercount, as many of those killed are still unaccounted for. 90% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed.
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Severe Threat of Famine: Last UN Bakery Closes in Gaza Month After Israel's Humanitarian Aid Halt

International agencies are warning of famine looming over hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across Gaza, as food supply is running out. 'The most basic right of all – food – simply doesn't exist,' a 60-year-old Gaza resident said. 'Just Drop an atomic bomb on us so we all die at once'

by Nir Hasson and Rawan Suleiman for Haaretz
Apr 2, 2025 10:07 am IDT

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Tuesday that the last of 25 bakeries it had been supporting in the Gaza Strip has ceased operations, following the closure of border crossings by Israel and the suspension of aid shipments a month ago.

International aid agencies are continuously warning of the threat of famine looming over hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across Gaza, as the food supply in the strip is running out.

Since the beginning of the war, and especially during the cease-fire, WFP has supplied dozens of bakeries with raw materials and baking fuel – either gas or diesel – allowing them to sell bread at a subsidized price (approximately 50 cents for a bag of about 23 pitas).

"Anyone who wanted bread got it," said Abdel Nasser Al-Ajrami, the head of the Bakery Owners Association in Gaza in an interview with Al-Alam news network. "It was hard to obtain bread recently as the production volume didn't meet the demand, but anyone who asked received bread."

"This is going to be a humanitarian catastrophe," he added. "If the border crossings remain closed, we'll go into a very dangerous phase."

The s, providing hundreds of thousands of hot meals and distributing packaged food to families in Gaza. On Monday, the Programme estimated that the food available to them in the Strip would last for only another two weeks.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which also distributes food in Gaza, has stopped handing out flour in recent days due to a shortage. A UN statement said that last week, around ten community kitchens across Gaza were closed due to hostilities and a fuel shortage.

Canned food supplied during the cease-fire is still available in markets and stores, but prices are soaring. Meanwhile, fresh food – such as meat, eggs, milk, and vegetables – is largely unavailable across most of Gaza.

Flour for baking bread is still available, but its price has spiked, now costing dozens of times more than it did a few weeks ago. It is also extremely difficult to obtain cooking gas, diesel or even wood for baking, meaning most families cannot afford to bake bread.

"The most basic right of all – food – simply doesn't exist," a 60-year-old Gaza resident told the Sanad News Agency. "All our focus is on how to find a loaf of bread, how to fill the water tank, how to charge the battery, how to find even a single tomato… Just drop an atomic bomb on us so we all die at once, and it'll be over."

In recent days, hospitals in Gaza have reported growing concerns over shortages of medical equipment and medicines. A statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that the existing stock of anesthetic drugs – essential for surgeries, childbirth, pain management and intensive care – is running out, as are crucial medicines required for safe deliveries.

During the cease-fire, the Nutrition Task Force, which includes several international aid organizations, surveyed Gaza residents to identify children's malnutrition.

Out of approximately 29,000 children screened, 750 were found to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, including 85 whose condition was life-threatening.

The task force established dozens of centers across the Strip to detect and treat malnutrition in children, and some 7,000 infants and children received nutritional supplements.

Since the resumption of fighting on March 18, 12 malnutrition treatment sites for children have been closed due to their proximity to targets bombed by Israel or evacuation orders issued by the IDF.