Two Teenage Girls Crushed in Crowd Trying to Buy Bread... Another Tragedy in Gaza Strip

Crowd Gathered in Front of Bakery Due to Hunger... 3 People Crushed to Death
UN "Food Crisis Will Worsen Without Immediate Intervention"

A large crowd is gathered in front of a bakery in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Palestine. X (formerly Twitter), CNN

As the Israel-Hamas war surpasses one year, an incident has occurred that highlights the extreme 'food crisis' in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Three Palestinians were crushed to death in front of a bakery in Gaza due to the overwhelming crowd caused by food shortages.

According to foreign media including CNN and AP on the 29th (local time), three Palestinians?two teenage girls (aged 13 and 17) and a woman in her 50s?who were standing in line outside a bakery in central Gaza were crushed to death. The bakeries in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, had closed last week due to a flour shortage but made bread with a small stock of flour and opened on the day of the incident. People in Gaza, exhausted from hunger, rushed to the bakery as soon as they heard it had opened. Released footage shows a large crowd gathered in front of a bakery in Deir al-Balah, pushing each other to buy bread, turning the scene into chaos.

A large crowd is gathered in front of a bakery in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Palestine. CNN

Screams erupted from all directions, and the scene resembled a battlefield, ultimately resulting in fatalities. Osama Abu al-Raban, father of the 17-year-old girl who died that day, told AP, "My wife still does not know that our daughter was crushed to death while trying to get bread in the crowd. She only heard that she suffocated and lost consciousness." He added in anguish, "When we rescued our daughter from the crowd, she was already crushed to death."

As Israel continues military operations in northern Gaza, hunger caused by the food crisis is worsening. On the 30th, AP reported that "Palestinians across the Gaza Strip are barely relying on small bakeries and charitable relief organizations." The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) stated on the 29th that "bread is the only food Gaza residents can obtain," but "even this has now become difficult to acquire." It further explained, "All bakeries in central Gaza have closed due to severe supply shortages."

A large crowd is gathered in front of a bakery in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Palestine. Photo by CNN

Local resident Karam Afali, who witnessed the crushing deaths of three people including teenage girls in front of the bakery, did not leave the scene. Standing still in line, he told CNN, "The suffering here is beyond imagination," and added, "I have been waiting in line for four hours just to get a loaf of bread."

On the 18th, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported, "Due to flour shortages, all eight UN-supported bakeries in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Yunis in the south have had to reduce raw materials for weeks, and many bakeries have had to close." It warned, "Without immediate intervention, the food shortage will worsen. The lives of more than two million people who depend on humanitarian aid for survival will be at risk."