People in Gaza are once again rushing to markets to buy whatever food they can afford, as the regional war involving the United States, Israel and Iran sends shock waves through an enclave already reliant on fragile aid and trade lifelines.
Residents and merchants say prices have risen in a matter of days, while some staples have become scarce or disappeared entirely.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City that “the latest escalation is being felt in the most immediate way possible: through reduced supplies and tightening access at border crossings.”
In local markets, shoppers are trying to get food before stocks drop, fearing that what’s available today won’t be available tomorrow.
That anxiety reflects Gaza’s dependence on crossings with Israel and Egypt. Almost all food, fuel, medicine and other basic products enter the territory by trucks. When those crossings are closed or operate at reduced capacity, the impact is quickly felt in markets, hospitals and water systems.
Israel closed the Gaza crossings on February 28, when Israeli and US forces attacked Iran, halting humanitarian access in and out of Gaza and the movement of patients needing medical evacuation. Israeli authorities subsequently reopened the Karem Abu Salem crossing (Kerem Shalom to Israelis) for the “gradual entry” of aid, but access remains restricted.
The Rafah crossing with Egypt has remained closed and aid agencies say current volumes are far below what is needed.
Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told Reuters this week that only about 200 trucks a day were entering Gaza, compared to the roughly 600 needed daily to sustain the territory’s population. He also said some 18,000 people, including injured children and chronically ill patients, were still waiting to be evacuated.
Prices rise in local markets
On the ground, Mahmoud said the impact is clear on the cost of fresh produce. A kilogram of tomatoes that a month ago sold for around $1.50 now costs about $4. Cucumbers and potatoes have also become significantly more expensive, leaving fresh food out of reach for many families whose incomes have already been devastated by months of war and displacement.
“People can no longer afford to buy vegetables and fruits due to high prices caused by the war between Israel and Iran,” one shopper told Al Jazeera.
Mahmoud said traders, business owners and buyers were describing the same pattern: fewer goods coming in, faster sales and rising prices across the board. He said basic goods, including cooking oil, flour and some canned foods, had largely disappeared from shelves in some parts of Gaza City.
The United Nations humanitarian office, OCHA, said on March 6 that the closure of the crossings “in the context of regional escalation” had already increased prices of both food and non-food items throughout Gaza. He said the current rate of truck inflows was too low to sustain stock replenishment, and many items were sold out in a matter of days.
This marks a change from just a few weeks earlier. Market monitoring by the World Food Program (WFP) in February had shown some improvement in food availability and lower prices for certain commodities compared to earlier phases of the war. But the WFP now says that recent border closures have led to sharp increases in food prices and that although some crossings have reopened, prices remain high.
Support system under pressure
Aid agencies say the pressures extend far beyond market stalls. OCHA said the closure had forced limited fuel reserves in Gaza to be rationed, prompting humanitarian partners to suspend vehicle solid waste collection and reduce water production. He added that contingency measures had been activated in hospitals and primary health care centers.
The broader context of food security remains extremely fragile. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the global hunger monitoring system used by UN agencies and aid groups, said in December that Gaza was no longer in famine conditions after access to aid improved during the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But he had warned that resuming hostilities or suspending aid could quickly reverse those gains.
The WFP has also warned that Gaza’s fragile gains could quickly unravel if access is not maintained. He said the reopening of Karem Abu Salem may offer some relief, but without reliable humanitarian corridors, the agency could be forced to cut food rations for large numbers of people.
As access remains limited, families across Gaza face growing uncertainty about whether they will be able to maintain essential food supplies in the coming days.
