Flour in Gaza by Noor Nashwan

Flour in Gaza: The Last Battle for Survival Against Hunger and War

by Noor Nashwan

I do not know where to begin. My words come out in broken fragments, much like my heavy breaths. I now fear waking more than sleeping because to wake means facing yet another day of pain, hunger, and fear.

In Gaza, morning no longer heralds a new day; it merely extends the suffering. I open my eyes with difficulty, weighed down by an unbearable heaviness in my chest. My body has become fragile, and even the smallest movements drain whatever little energy remains. My head spins, and my legs barely support me. Our bodies are emaciated, and our souls are exhausted.

A bite of food, the most basic human right, has become an unattainable dream. Bread, once a staple of life, has turned into a luxury. When it is available, it is sold at prices no one can afford. Aid does not arrive, as if we are condemned to endure a slow death while the world looks away. We have tried to rely on canned goods, but the markets are empty and supplies dwindle by the day until there is nothing left.

Life here is unbearably heavy. It feels as though I carry a burden far beyond my capacity to endure. Every step requires extraordinary effort. In the streets, I see pale faces and frail bodies, as though I am looking at ghosts rather than people. Children’s laughter, once echoing through the alleys, has been replaced by the growls of empty stomachs, cries of anguish, and mothers suppressing their tears to keep them hidden from their little ones.

We sleep hungry and wake up hungry. Insomnia has become our constant companion. Exhaustion devours our souls even before our bodies. I feel as though I am losing the ability to experience joy, to dream, to simply remain human.

Flour: A Severed Lifeline

Since the outbreak of war in Gaza, the flow of food supplies has come to a near halt. Markets are bare, shelves are empty, and flour has become the sole commodity everyone desperately seeks. Yet even obtaining a bag of flour is no longer easy. It is a pain beyond imagination. We once spoke of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Today we speak of a single meal a day—if we are lucky. Sometimes there is no meal at all. The loaf of bread that is wasted in many parts of the world has become a monumental dream in Gaza. Here, people ask for nothing but the opening of border crossings, the entry of flour, and the chance to live with dignity.

In Gaza, food is no longer a luxury. A loaf of bread is no longer a passing detail on the tables of the privileged; it has become a symbol of survival, a fragile hope that millions cling to each morning. Flour, once the most basic artery of life, has turned into a rare and nearly unreachable commodity. Prices have soared to astronomical levels, and its near-total disappearance from markets has sparked a new tragedy: the struggle for a bite of food has become a monumental battle in the time of war.

Children Without Food

Children are the greatest victims of this crisis. Visible signs of severe malnutrition are emerging: wasting, pale faces, and swollen bellies caused by protein and vitamin deficiencies.

Flour is no longer merely a commodity; it is the final line of defense for the right to life. The people of Gaza send a desperate plea to the world: We ask for nothing but a piece of bread to silence the cries of our hungry children. Open the crossings. End the war. Let food in before hunger becomes mass death.

In Gaza, flour is a dream deferred, and the struggle for a bite of food is a daily battle.

On the shattered streets of Gaza, people search desperately for flour to keep themselves alive amid shortages, skyrocketing prices, and an utter inability to afford what little remains. Behind these grim headlines are real faces—people fighting each day to survive. In many cases, residents have paid with their lives in their quest to secure flour, as prices have risen to levels beyond reason or comprehension.

In recent weeks, an escalating crisis has gripped central and southern Gaza as flour and other basic goods have disappeared from markets and homes. Many families have resorted to using spoiled flour to feed their loved ones or searching for unsafe substitutes.

Most families in Gaza cannot find even one meal a day to satisfy their hunger. They go to bed starving. Some are forced to eat raw chickpeas or lentils simply to fill their stomachs and drink excessive amounts of water to make the legumes swell inside their bellies, creating the illusion of fullness. Even these desperate measures are now becoming impossible as these staples have also become scarce.

Gaza has been under the threat of famine since early March, marking the second prolonged famine in the history of the Palestinian people under a genocidal war.

Bread: The Impossible Dream

Flour has been absent from markets for weeks. The few bakeries that managed to remain open have shut their doors. When flour does appear, it is sold at exorbitant prices far beyond the means of ordinary people. A bite of food, once our simplest right, has become an unattainable dream.

We search for alternatives, anything to sustain us. Canned goods have vanished from shelves. There are no options, no substitutes. Every door we knock on in search of food closes in our faces. With every door that closes, it feels as though life itself is shutting down around us.

Are We Invisible?

It is as if we have become invisible to the world. No one hears our voices. No one feels our hunger. No one cares about our bodies as they wither a little more each day.

We are still here, trying to live despite everything.

We ask for so little: a piece of bread to sustain us, a sip of water to keep us alive, and a single gesture of compassion to remind us that we are still human.

In Gaza, it is not only the bombs that kill us. Fear alone does not stop our hearts. Hunger is also killing us.

Children cry out in pain. The elderly collapse in the streets from dizziness and exhaustion, unable to rise again. Nurses and doctors continue treating the wounded despite their weakened bodies. Even the journalists sharing our story with the world are writing about famine while starving themselves.

Hunger here is not a fleeting sensation. It is a slow and merciless killer taking lives one after the other.

The Infant Formula Crisis: A Threat to Newborns’ Lives

The shortage of infant formula is a looming threat to the lives of thousands of babies. Mothers are helpless. Children are hungry. The crisis deepens.

Amid cascading economic and health crises, a tragic problem has emerged, threatening innocent lives daily: the infant formula shortage. Mothers now stand in endless queues in search of a single can of formula to ease their babies’ hunger. In every home with a newborn, there is a mother spending sleepless nights and anxious days desperately searching for formula to save her child from starvation. The empty shelves in pharmacies and markets only intensify their anguish and amplify their children’s cries.

This crisis is no longer a mere market shortage. It has evolved into a psychological and physical torment for mothers, especially those unable to breastfeed due to illness, malnutrition, or immense psychological stress. With no solutions in sight, the catastrophe worsens: infants fighting hunger and mothers breaking down in despair as they fail to save their children.

The infant formula shortage is no longer an economic problem alone. It has become a full-scale humanitarian disaster. Thousands of children are at daily risk of malnutrition, dehydration, and even slow, agonizing death from the absence of milk essential for their growth and survival.

Mothers With No Options

Countless mothers are unable to breastfeed, whether due to illness, the effects of extreme malnutrition, or overwhelming psychological trauma. These mothers stand powerless in the face of their children’s cries of hunger, as though every road to salvation has been blocked.