Israel-Hamas war | UN official says the average Gaza resident is living on two pieces of bread a day

An average of 4,000 displaced Gazan residents are living in the schools without the resources to maintain proper sanitation

The average Gaza resident is living on two pieces of Arabic bread made from flour the U.N. had stockpiled in the region, yet the main refrain now being heard in the street is “Water, water,” the Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said on November 3.

Thomas White, who said he traveled “the length and breadth of Gaza in the last few weeks,” described the place as a "scene of death and destruction.” No place is safe now, he said, and people fear for their lives, their future and their ability to feed their families.

The Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, is supporting about 89 bakeries across Gaza, aiming to get bread to 1.7 million people, White told diplomats from the U.N.’s 193 member nations in a video briefing from Gaza.

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But, he said, “now people are beyond looking for bread. It’s looking for water.”

U.N. deputy Mideast coordinator Lynn Hastings, who is also the humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said only one of three water supply lines from Israel is operational.

“Many people are relying on brackish or saline ground water, if at all,” she said.