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Ceasefire in Gaza: Where Are The Flour and Fuel?

Published on 27.01.2025
Reading time: 4 minutes

Hungry residents of Gaza are questioning where the flour has gone and why it has disappeared from the markets, with prices soaring for whatever little is available. They have yet to receive satisfactory answers.


One day after the ceasefire came into effect in the Gaza Strip, flour—the basic food source for the population—disappeared from the markets in the southern part of the Strip. This has exacerbated the famine-like conditions faced by people who had been counting on these days to secure flour and food.

Residents in southern Gaza blame both large and small traders for the ongoing flour crisis and its absence from the markets, despite the entry of large quantities of aid into the Strip through five crossings, most notably the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing. The price of a 25-kilogram bag of flour has reached 300 shekels (approximately $85) when available in the markets.

Since Sunday, when the ceasefire took effect, until Tuesday, 2,400 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip, according to United Nations statistics.

Hungry residents of Gaza are questioning where the flour has gone and why it has disappeared from the markets, with prices soaring for whatever little is available. They have yet to receive satisfactory answers.

After the ceasefire, no government inspectors or popular committees have appeared in the markets to monitor the flow of goods entering in large quantities through the crossings or to regulate prices. Traders continue to dominate the market.

Despite the entry of large amounts of aid, Gaza residents have not received their basic relief needs, with flour—which was available during the war—disappearing after the ceasefire took effect. Some families have been forced to buy bread at exorbitant prices.

A senior UN official confirmed that the security and legal situation inside the Strip has not seen any significant issues so far.

Muhannad Hadi, the UN aid coordinator for Gaza and the West Bank, acknowledged minor looting incidents over the past three days but emphasized that they were not on the scale of previous events.

In a statement to journalists following his visit to the Strip, Hadi said: “These are not organized crimes. What happened is that some children jumped onto trucks trying to get food packages, while others attempted to take bottled water.”

He added: “We hope these incidents will fade in the coming days as Gaza residents realize that aid will reach everyone in sufficient quantities.”

The ceasefire agreement stipulates the entry of at least 600 aid trucks daily during the initial six-week phase, including 50 fuel trucks, with approximately half of this aid allocated to northern Gaza.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed that the international organization is working to increase urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza.

This came during his speech at a session held as part of the 55th annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Guterres said, “Finally, there is a glimmer of hope with the ceasefire agreement and the release of prisoners in Gaza,” adding, “We are working to increase urgent humanitarian aid in Gaza.”

Fuel Crisis

Alongside the disappearance of flour from the markets, a new crisis has emerged—one that was not present during the days of war: the fuel crisis. Several municipalities in the Gaza Strip announced that they have stopped pumping water to residents due to the unavailability of diesel.

The ongoing fuel crisis in Gaza coincided with the arrival of 25 fuel trucks, funded by Qatar, at the Karam Abu Salem crossing last Sunday, in preparation for their entry into the Gaza Strip. This occurred simultaneously with the start of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.

Qatar has launched a land bridge to supply Gaza with 12.5 million liters of fuel during the first ten days of the ceasefire, at a rate of 1.25 million liters per day, in implementation of the directives of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Meanwhile, the Khan Younis municipality, the largest in the Strip, announced last Tuesday that it was unable to operate its emergency water pumping program due to the depletion of fuel.

The municipality confirmed that it had not received any regular quantities of diesel for five days, except for 2,400 liters, which were used to pump water to residents and displaced persons on an emergency basis to alleviate the ongoing suffering. It noted that the actual requirement for a single operational cycle is 3,500 liters of diesel.

The municipality explained that the daily need to operate water wells, sewage pumps, open roads, and collect and transport waste is 4,500 liters per day, adding that it had received promises and is awaiting the arrival of diesel in the coming days.

The diesel shortage in Gaza has impacted both residents and displaced persons, who are now suffering from a severe lack of water for drinking and hygiene, as well as the cleaning of sewage-filled streets.

The early days of the ceasefire remind residents of the moments they experienced at the beginning of the war on Gaza, with crises intensifying, particularly the lack of water and the spread of sewage swamps.

Meanwhile, no international or official entity in Gaza has announced mechanisms for distributing the fuel that entered the Strip in large quantities to institutions currently operating on the ground, such as hospitals and municipalities.

The crises that have emerged in Gaza after the war raise questions about which entities received the aid trucks that the UN announced had entered, and why they have not yet been distributed to the displaced and those affected by the war.