Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoGAZA / FOOD PRICES
STORY: GAZA / FOOD PRICES
TRT: 08:48
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 10 JUNE 2025, GAZA CITY
1. Various shots, Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in downtown Gaza City, where street vendors are widespread
2. Various shots, vendors specializing in selling cash liquidity in Gaza City in exchange for purchasing monetary balances transferred by citizens through banking applications
3. Various shots, Akram Youssef attempting to obtain cash
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Akram Youssef:
“As a civilian employee, receiving my salary is very difficult. The commission taken for withdrawing the salary used to be 20 per cent, then it rose to 30 per cent, and now 40 per cent, sometimes reaching 50 per cent, which is almost half. The commission is now extremely high, and all of this falls on the citizen employee. Imagine the worker who cannot even find food - what is his condition? Besides the abnormal rise in prices, which are neither European nor even Parisian prices. The situation is very difficult, and we have been in this state for two years. This is besides displacement, homelessness, bombing, destruction, traders raising prices, and citizens unable to bear this situation. All of this is a burden on the citizen. What can he do under these circumstances?”
5. Various shots, vendors specializing in selling cash liquidity in Gaza City in exchange for purchasing monetary balances transferred by citizens through banking applications
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ashraf Al-Deiri:
“For 2,000 shekels, we take a 50 per cent commission, meaning the value becomes 1,000 shekels. From this remaining amount, you can buy one kilogram of flour for 100 shekels. If a citizen wants to buy one kilogram of flour, some cooking oil, and a tomato the next day, he won’t find food. The daily expenses for an average small family exceed 500 shekels. We live in great hardship and need mercy. Someone needs to stand with us amid the difficult living conditions we endure.”
7. Various shots, vendors sitting on the ground on Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City, selling flour, sugar, lentils, and rice in limited quantities
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nmeir Ghazal:
“Sometimes we keep our children hungry when they ask for a piece of bread. We need 200 shekels daily to provide food. One kilogram of flour is sold for 100 shekels, which is not enough for my family. We need nearly two kilograms for them to eat and be full. I bring one kilogram and divide it among them. If I want to buy one kilogram of lentils costing 50 shekels, it is not enough. If I want to withdraw 1,000 shekels in cash, I have to pay a 400-shekel commission. The remaining 600 shekels from the original 1,000 are not enough for even three days to buy flour and lentils. We don’t eat fruits, vegetables, or nutritious food for my children. We walk and faint from hunger.”
9. Various shots, vendors sitting on the ground on Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City, selling flour, sugar, lentils, and rice in limited quantities
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Al-Bahri, displaced from Beit Lahia, holding some bread:
“Our complaint is to God and whoever caused these prices and exploits us now. They sell a loaf of bread for seven shekels. There is no flour, no milk, no diapers for children, or anything to eat. We sit hungry. Look, the child’s loaf of bread costs seven shekels. Where can we get it from? How can this child eat? What is the child’s fault if he cannot find food?”
11. Various shots, Ahmed Al-Bahri’s child with his mother
12. Wide shot, vendors on Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ayman Saleh holding half a kilo of rice:
“I bought this half kilo of rice for seven people to eat. It used to cost five shekels; now the price is 40 shekels. This is unbearable. Who can afford it? What will they eat in three days? Nowadays, people barely manage their affairs. We used to eat three main meals; now, we eat only one. Why?”
14. Med shot, Ayman Saleh holding half a kilo of rice
15. Various shots, Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khamis Abu Sal:
“The situation is escalating crazily and abnormally. We are facing madness, literally, in the rise of prices. We have this bag containing three kilograms of eggplants, three kilograms of molokhia, three kilograms of tomatoes, and 1.2 kilograms of cucumbers. The price of all this is 530 shekels, and this is tomorrow’s meal for eleven members of my family. 530 shekels for tomorrow’s meal. Who is satisfied with this and because of whom? And what about those who don’t have money? For example, I have financial ability, but what about those who don’t? Where will they get their food from?”
17. Med shot, Khamis Abu Sal holding the bags of vegetables he bought
18. Wide shot, vendors on Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City
19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sabira Abu Jaradat holding bags containing small quantities of rice and cooking oil:
“For two months, I have been saving money to buy food for my small children. What can I do? This cooking oil I bought for ten shekels, and this rice for 15 shekels. Is this life? This is unjust.”
20. Med shot, Sabira Abu Jaradat holding bags containing small quantities of rice and cooking oil
21. Various shots, vendors on Omar Al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City
22. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Raed Tafesh:
“We never dreamed prices would reach this level. One kilogram of sugar reached 250 shekels, one kilogram of flour costs 100 shekels, and there is no income. To provide breakfast and lunch without dinner, we need 1,000 shekels daily, and we don’t get even one shekel - no job, no work, nothing.”
23. Various shots, one of Gaza City’s streets showing the widespread tents of displaced persons
24. Various shots, children running after a vehicle distributing free food, carrying their containers to fill with food
25. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zuhair Obeid:
“People are dying slowly now. The biggest problem is the availability of flour. If this problem ends, life will be easier. One kilogram of flour reached 100 shekels, and the smallest family needs between one and two kilograms daily. Regarding the financial situation, people have no work. We go to the market, and we neither recognize the vegetables nor can we buy them. Tomatoes and cucumbers reach prices between 40 and 50 shekels per kilogram. The smallest family, consisting of two people like my wife and me, needs 200 shekels daily to provide food. Where do we get these 200 shekels?”
26. Various shots, one of Gaza City’s streets showing the widespread tents of displaced persons
The residents of Gaza Strip are suffering from harsh living conditions, with the sector recording the highest cost of living worldwide amid a conflict now in its twentieth month, according to reports and interviews with residents.
Since last March, Israeli restrictions on crossings have tightened, exacerbating difficulties for residents to access food. The cessation of Palestinian banks’ operations since the war began in October 2023 has caused a severe cash liquidity crisis.
Residents are forced to buy cash through electronic applications from their bank accounts via local traders, who impose commissions sometimes reaching up to 46 per cent, further increasing their financial burden.
Akram Youssef said, “The commission taken for withdrawing the salary used to be 20 per cent, then it rose to 30 per cent, and now 40 per cent, sometimes reaching 50 per cent, which is almost half. The commission is now extremely high, and all of this falls on the citizen employee. Imagine the worker who cannot even find food - what is his condition?”
Ashraf Al-Deiri added, “For 2,000 shekels (about $575 at an exchange rate of 3.48 shekels per dollar), we take a 50 per cent commission, meaning the value becomes 1,000 shekels. From this remaining amount, you can buy one kilogram of flour for 100 shekels ($29). If a citizen wants to buy one kilogram of flour, some cooking oil, and a tomato the next day, he won’t find food. The daily expenses for an average small family exceed 500 shekels (about $144). We live in great hardship and need mercy. Someone needs to stand with us amid the difficult living conditions we endure.”
Nmeir Ghazal confirmed, “If I want to withdraw 1,000 shekels in cash, I have to pay a 400-shekel commission ($115). The remaining 600 shekels from the original 1,000 are not enough for even three days to buy flour and lentils. She also said, “Sometimes we keep our children hungry when they ask for a piece of bread.”
Ahmed Al-Bahri, displaced from Beit Lahia, pointed out, “The child’s loaf of bread costs seven shekels (about $2). Where can we get it from? How can this child eat? What is the child’s fault if he cannot find food? What fault does a child have if he cannot find food?”
Ayman Saleh said, “I bought this half kilo of rice for seven people to eat. It used to cost five shekels ($1.44); now the price is 40 shekels ($11.5). This is unbearable. Who can afford it? What will they eat in three days? Nowadays, people barely manage their affairs. We used to eat three main meals; now, we eat only one. Why?”
Khamis Abu Sal, carrying bags of vegetables, described, “The price of all this is 530 shekels ($152), and this is tomorrow’s meal for eleven members of my family, and this is lunch for eleven family members... For those who cannot afford it, where will they get food?”
Raed Tafesh said, “We never dreamed prices would reach this level. One kilogram of sugar reached 250 shekels ($72), one kilogram of flour costs 100 shekels, and there is no income. To provide breakfast and lunch without dinner, we need 1,000 ($288) shekels daily, and we don’t get even one shekel - no job, no work, nothing.”
Zuhair Obeid confirmed, “People are dying slowly now. The biggest problem is the availability of flour. If this problem ends, life will be easier. One kilogram of flour reached 100 shekels ($29), and the smallest family needs between one and two kilograms daily. Regarding the financial situation, people have no work. We go to the market, and we neither recognize the vegetables nor can we buy them. Tomatoes and cucumbers reach prices between 40 and 50 shekels per kilogram. The smallest family, consisting of two people like my wife and me, needs 200 ($57) shekels daily to provide food. Where do we get these 200 shekels?”
