Cairo, Nov. 20, (dpa/GNA) – Food prices in Gaza have risen dramatically following the looting of a large aid convoy, residents told dpa on Wednesday.
A bag of 25 kilograms of flour now costs the equivalent of $150 to $200, residents said.
Prices prior to the incident were around $8 to $10, they said, roughly the same as before the conflict began in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks last year.
The high prices are not the only problem, residents said, as they can hardly find flour to buy, while meat has been unaffordable for months.
Resident Ahed al-Shurafa said he travels for hours every day in search of food.
The father of eight said he could “barely buy tomatoes, aubergines and bread at the inflated prices.”
Al-Shurafa fled with his family from Gaza City to the southern city of Khan Younis around one year ago due to the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
He is currently unemployed and the family is low on money.
“We are suffering from hunger,” al-Shurafa said.
The United Nations and aid organizations have warned of the risk of famine in Gaza, with humanitarian aid insufficient to feed the majority of the population.
In conversations with dpa, residents have reported weight loss and hair loss as a result of malnutrition.
The situation has further deteriorated after a convoy of more than 100 trucks carrying aid was raided last weekend.
The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said local gangs and family clans were suspected to be behind the looting.
GNA