Displaced people from Rafah fear 'new famine'

The lack of food entering the Gaza Strip following the closure of the Rafah crossing, along with the increased amount of people heading to southern and central areas bring fear of a new famine hitting civilians, Middle East Eye's correspondent in Deir al-Balah says.

Deir al-Balah is relatively small compared to other cities in Gaza, with vast agricultural lands. The city, still dealing with regular Israeli strikes, is unprepared for the influx of displaced people fleeing Israel's attacks on Rafah.

"The presence of thousands of displaced people all of a sudden created a state of chaos in the markets of Deir al-Balah," Mohammed al-Hajjar, MEE's correspondent, said.

"For starters, the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem crossings are closed for the sixth day. No items have entered the south [of Gaza]. Additionally, the items currently present are not sufficient for the high number of people which recently came to the city. The stores are almost out of food supplies"

Al-Hajjar says there is "a heavy lack" of food supplies, with most of it consisting of aid brought from people in Rafah, who are selling it in able to afford other essentials.

"Today, you see very few canned foods and cheeses," he said. "Flour bags are not present in adundance in Deir al-Balah. There are not many bakeries here, maybe two or three bakeries, with two distribution points. An insane amount of people stand in line to buy a single bag of bread."

Al-Hajjar said the price of bread tripled in two days, and that the price of other items such as vegetables is also increasing.

"People do not have money after seven months of war," he added. "There is a big liquidity and cash crisis in several areas of Gaza that has been ongoing over the past few months. People cannot buy things at such high costs. Those who still have some money try to buy the essentials and food supplies for very high prices.

"Thousands of people are in the market just to ask about the prices without buying anything, because they cannot afford it in this situation. People are trying to spare expenses as much as possible by using the supplies they have from the aid distributions in Rafah, from the boxed they used to get from relief and aid agencies there."

Those who have been depending on daily supplies to be able to eat or drink may find it difficult to cope with the scarcity of resources, he says.

"Those who eat and drink by the day will not be able to get [what they need to survive]. We could be seeing a new famine in the displacement areas. Displaced people are very worried about the lack of supplies. A major crisis too is related to the lack of water fit for drinking."