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STORY: GAZA / BAKERY OPENING
TRT: 04:40
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 MAY 2025, DEIR EL BALAH, CENTRAL GAZA
1. Various shots, trucks loaded with bags of flour from the World Food Program arrive at dawn at bakeries in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip
2. Various shots, inside the Al-Banna Bakery during its operation after a hiatus of more than two months
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Vladimir Jovcev, Deputy Country Director, World Food Program (WFP):
“Al-Banna Bakery in Deir El Balah opened after 40 days of being closed because we didn't have enough supplies of wheat flour to bring for the bread to be baked. It's great to see the bakery opened again and we were able to bring some quantities of wheat flour after the border was closed for more than two and a half months. It's a start, what we brought is definitely not enough, but we hope that the borders will remain open, and we'll be able to bring more aid into Gaza. 2.2 million people of Gaza, almost everyone depends on humanitarian aid. And the bread is already a staple in Gaza, but symbolically, you know, the smell of fresh bread is the smell of hope. So, we hope, that you know, we appeal for the borders to remain open, the crossings to remain opened, and then we are able to bring more humanitarian aid to assist everyone here. I would also like to appeal to everyone in Gaza, we are going to do our work on advocacy of keeping the border crossings open, we remain committed to bringing humanitarian aid as much as it is needed, but I also want to appeal to civil society and communities to ensure that we have the space and that they support us in our efforts to be able to bring the aid where it is needed, avoiding the looting, and we are able to feed the ones that are mostly in need.”
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Vladimir Jovcev, Deputy Country Director, World Food Program (WFP):
“The bread produced in this bakery will not be sold at the moment on the counters and the bakeries. It's going to be distributed through our existing network of partners, mainly the ones operating, the hot meals kitchens and given to the ones that are mostly in need.”
5. Various shots, inside the Al-Banna Bakery during its operation
“The smell of fresh bread is the smell of hope,” said WFP’s Vladimir Jovcev as Gaza bakery reopens amid critical aid delivery.
After more than a month of closure, the Al-Banna Bakery in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah resumed operations today (May 22), marking a small but significant step in a region grappling with humanitarian need. “Al-Banna Bakery in Deir El Balah opened after 40 days of being closed because we didn't have enough supplies of wheat flour to bring for the bread to be baked,” said Vladimir Jovcev, Deputy Country Director for the World Food Program (WFP).
"It's a start, what we brought is definitely not enough," Jovcev said. “But we hope that the borders will remain open, and we'll be able to bring more aid into Gaza.”
He also said, that in a territory where 2.2 million people depend on humanitarian assistance, bread holds more than nutritional value. “Bread is already a staple in Gaza,” Jovcev said. “But symbolically, you know, the smell of fresh bread is the smell of hope.”
