Gaza is starving again: "Israel has cut humanitarian aid and the price of flour has doubled"

BarcelonaIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision on Sunday, to cut off the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza again The news is already being felt on the streets: food prices have skyrocketed and people fear a return to indiscriminate bombing after six weeks of ceasefire.

"In a matter of hours, we have seen the price of food skyrocket: the price of flour or eggs has doubled. And people are very worried because they are afraid of running out of food again," Caroline tells ARA from Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza. A shopkeeper in Khan Yunis, a town in the south of the Strip, confirms this: with the shelves of shops empty, the price of a sack of flour has gone from 40 to 100 cheques, almost 30 euros.

The price of oil and vegetables, as well as fuel, has also doubled or tripled. "People are very afraid that the war will start again," adds Seguin. MSF is also unsure whether it will be able to continue its activities: "It depends on how long the closure lasts, we have very little material and medicines in stock."

The Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities have tried to calm people, assuring them that they will control traders so as not to raise prices and saying they have reserves for two weeks, but people are preparing for the worst. After 15 months of indiscriminate bombings and the lack of everything necessary for life, the messages coming from Washington and Tel Aviv are not encouraging: they insist on emptying the Strip of Palestinians, in an open appeal to ethnic cleansing.

Presence of troops

Ahmed al-Shufi, mayor of Rafah, told ARA that during the truce, Israel has not allowed the entry of vital supplies such as generators for hospitals and heavy machinery for clearing rubble and recovering bodies crushed under the rubble. The other pending issue is the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip, which should be completed with the second phase of the ceasefire. "Israeli soldiers continue to occupy Rafah and snipers and tanks do not stop shooting at people," said the mayor. "The international community should pressure Netanyahu to continue with the second phase of the ceasefire to stop the bloodshed and so that Palestinians can live in peace in our land."

Israeli drones have killed two civilians in Rafah on Monday morning and injured three others. Palestinian media say that the attack began with the launching of two missiles from Israeli planes and shots from helicopters against the Palestinian town. Artillery attacks have also been reported in Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli military ships opened fire off the coast of Khan Yunis, in a zone classified as humanitarian where thousands of internally displaced people are concentrated.

On Saturday, the first phase of the ceasefire expired. It had begun on January 19 and provided for, in addition to the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the entry of an average of 600 trucks of humanitarian aid per day. This should have continued during the second and third phases of the agreement. However, Hamas has denounced that Israel has violated the agreement and that not even half of the agreed fuel and generators have reached Gaza and it has also said that the most strategic part of the aid, live cattle, has not received Israeli authorization.

Talks between Israel and Hamas to implement the second part of the truce agreed last January remain blocked. "We will take action if Hamas continues to hold the hostages. And in all of this, Israel knows that the United States and President Trump have our backs," Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday night. Netanyahu and the United States want Hamas to agree to continue the exchanges until the release of the 59 hostages who remain in the Strip - 35 of whom have been declared dead - without the commitment to withdraw Israeli troops established in the ceasefire. Hamas considered this an attempt to "go back to square one."

Everything is waiting for the Arab countries to present their plan on Tuesday in response to Trump's threats to turn Gaza into a tourist resort without Palestinians. The leaders of the region meet in Cairo and must explain their proposal for the reconstruction of the Strip. But the key issue is who will govern the Palestinian enclave: Netanyahu and Trump want to wipe Hamas off the map, but it is the only force capable of governing today.

Attack on the Israeli city of Haifa

Meanwhile, a 70-year-old man was killed and four others injured in a knife attack at the central bus station in the Israeli city of Haifa on Monday. Police shot dead the attacker, an Israeli citizen from the Druze minority who had returned to live in a village near Haifa from Germany.