UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries Amid Israel's Ongoing Aid Blockade

The past month's total blockade has forced the World Food Program to prioritize giving its dwindling stock to starving Palestinians who need emergency food aid.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. food agency is closing all of its bakeries in the Gaza Strip, officials said Tuesday, as food supplies dwindle after Israel sealed the territory off from all imports nearly a month ago.

Israel, which tightened its blockade and later resumed its offensive in order to pressure Hamas into accepting changes to their ceasefire agreement, said that enough food entered Gaza during the six-week truce to sustain the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Markets largely emptied weeks ago, and U.N. agencies say the supplies they built up during the truce are running out. Gaza is heavily reliant on international aid, because the war has destroyed almost all of its food production capability.

Mohammed al-Kurd, a father of 12, said that his children go to bed without dinner.

“We tell them to be patient and that we will bring flour in the morning,” he said. “We lie to them and to ourselves.”