After the World Food Programme supplied flour and fuel for the first bakery to open, hundreds of people crowded into the neighboring streets between the abandoned houses in disorderly lines. To keep everything in order, the bakers had to hire dozens of stewards.
Though the lines are shorter now that a few more bakeries have opened, some of them are open around-the-clock, Belbasi claims she still has to wait at least 20 minutes every day to get the two bags of flat pitta bread she requires for her huge family.
It will be imperative to reopen Gaza’s bakeries and provide a consistent flow of fuel, water, and wheat to prevent starvation from spreading throughout the small, densely populated territory almost seven months into the battle.
