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STORY: GAZA / RISING FLOUR PRICES
TRT: 05:14
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 31 MAY 2025, GAZA CITY
1. Various shots, crowded streets, IDP tents, vendors selling flour
2. Various shots, flour market, Al-Wahda Street
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah Al-Sweisi, Palestinian:
"I don’t know what to say about this war. Look, I buy just one kilogram of flour each day for my little children. This famine has killed many children, and many have died from malnutrition. We hope that the countries of the world will come and see how Gaza is really living. They don’t feel it, but we do. We are living this suffering. We plead with all nations and the United Nations to help the people of Gaza."
4. Various shots, vendor sitting on ground beside sack of flour and scale, selling flour
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Riyad Al-Haddad, Palestinian:
“I have only one son, my only child. For the past ten days, he has been begging me to buy flour. I was forced to come up with the money for one kilogram of flour so that he wouldn’t go there to his death — so he wouldn’t die just for a bag of flour. We are compelled; what can we do? The vendor asked me for 65 shekels for a kilo of flour. I begged him to take 60, but he refused. I had to borrow five shekels from a man just to buy a bag of flour.”
6. Various shots, women standing in front of vendor to buy flour
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Basel Shaheen, displaced Palestinian from Beit Lahia, northern Gaza:
"It’s been more than a month since I last bought flour. Today I went to the market — flour prices range from 60 to 65 shekels per kilo. The price is extremely high, especially considering we’ve been living in misery for two years. One kilo of flour isn’t even enough for one breakfast meal for my children. Now we rely on lentils, which is also expensive. It is not cheap."
8. Various shots, flour vendors
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Abu Sweid, Palestinian:
"Today I came just to look at the flour — I can’t afford to buy it. We need a solution to return to how things were before, to have flour available again. We used to distribute it to others, and today we can't even buy a loaf of bread, which now costs 6 shekels. We can't afford it. Find a solution for us. By God, find a solution for us. Hear our voice. To the Arab nations, we are dying of hunger. We are dying in North Gaza."
10. Various shots, flour being sold amid crowds of onlookers and few buyers due to high prices
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Angham Al-Af, Palestinian:
“I managed to get 200 shekels, with which I bought flour. Most of our meals have been lentils and pasta from community kitchens. Yesterday we had eggplant, and today, kind people distributed 200 shekels. Because I’m a widow, I was given the amount and bought this flour, which I expect will last my children three days. As for the other days, we’ll rely on community kitchens. We don’t know what to do. We constantly pray for God to be with us, and for this war to end."
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nouman Al-Safadi, Palestinian:
"Even if flour costs just ten shekels, I still couldn’t afford it. What’s happening is injustice. It is better not to bring in (the flour). Unless it goes directly to UNRWA, we aren’t going to get any aid. Not me or anyone else will be able to get anything."
13. Various shots, rudimentary bakery operating with wood and clay
Residents of the Gaza Strip are grappling with a deepening bread crisis, as food aid supplies sharply decline and flour prices soar — further exacerbating hunger and malnutrition.
Previously, United Nations agencies used to distribute flour free of charge through a mechanism that preserved the dignity of the recipients.
However, this support has nearly come to a halt, forcing many families to turn to local markets, where the price of a 25-kilogram bag of flour has reached around $500 USD.
In the streets of Gaza City, scenes show crowds of pedestrians and makeshift tents of displaced people, while vendors sit on the ground selling small quantities of flour, using electronic scales to measure what each customer can afford.
In a bustling local market on Al-Wahda Street in the city center, residents gather in search of even small amounts of flour.
Abdullah Al-Sweisi stands holding a small bag and says: "I don’t know what to say about this war. I buy just one kilo of flour each day for my children. This famine has taken the lives of many children. We ask the world to see Gaza for what it truly is and to feel our suffering."
In the same market, Riyad Al-Haddad sits beside a flour sack and a small scale, his voice shaking as he recounts his struggle to feed his only son: " The vendor asked me for 65 shekels for a kilo of flour. I begged him to take 60, but he refused. I had to borrow five shekels from a man just to buy a bag of flour."
The price of a single kilogram of flour now ranges between 60 and 100 shekels (approximately $16 to $27 USD)—a steep cost for most families who have lost their sources of income.
Basel Shaheen, a displaced person from Beit Lahia, stated: " It’s been more than a month since I last bought flour.”
He added, “One kilo of flour isn’t even enough for one breakfast meal for my children. Now we rely on lentils, which is also expensive. It is not cheap."
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abu Sweid stands in front of a pile of flour bags, speaking with deep sorrow: Today I came just to look at the flour — I can’t afford to buy it. We need a solution to return to how things were before, to have flour available again. We used to distribute it to others, and today we can't even buy a loaf of bread, which now costs 6 shekels. We can't afford it.”
