Gaza markets restocked but families still can’t afford basic goods
Although supplies have begun flowing back into Gaza’s shops, most residents lack the cash to purchase them, leaving families like Ghadeer Nassar’s to survive on barter and aid.
Gaza’s markets have started receiving goods again after a prolonged blockade, but the influx has not translated into purchasing power for most residents. Ghadeer Nassar, who lives with her seven children in a makeshift classroom at Remal Model School, now resorts to selling her wedding ring and bartering rice for lentils to feed her family. Her husband’s irregular work yields as little as seven shekels a day, leaving the household financially strained.
Local retailer Maher al-Khudari observes that shoppers now buy only the smallest amounts of essentials, with sweets becoming rare luxuries, and he struggles with the dilemma of extending credit. United Nations figures reveal that the food consumer price index is up 102 % from pre-war levels, while the World Food Programme reports a growing share of households unable to afford market goods. Economic experts cite a severe cash shortage and the lack of reconstruction as barriers to recovery, meaning most Gazans remain dependent on humanitarian aid.
Why it matters
It shows that restored supply chains alone cannot lift Gaza’s population out of hunger without income and jobs.
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