On a Gaza City street, a baker used a metal box as an oven, planks of wood as fuel, and a folded strip of cardboard as a makeshift potholder to produce tray after tray of flatbread on Saturday. Bread, once a staple food, has become increasingly scarce in the Gaza Strip. Many bakeries in the heavily bombed north are closed, and flour is in short supply due to damage to mills and storage warehouses during the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Abu Abdullah Muhaysa, a volunteer who conceived the idea of baking bread for the remaining residents of the devastated city, views the improvised kitchen as a response to the catastrophic situation in Gaza. He explained that the handmade iron sheet setup was created to provide bread for people and their children, helping them survive and meet their needs after the disruption of basic necessities. Patrons are asked to pay a token amount to cover the cost of gathering firewood, as the efforts and manpower are dedicated to the sake of God and the community, according to Muhaysa.

Following Hamas's attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli pledge to crush the Palestinian militant group, a humanitarian disaster has unfolded in Gaza. The World Food Programme has warned of a high risk of famine, and only a trickle of aid has reached the territory. Israeli strikes have damaged at least two of Gaza's five flour mills, and one of the last grain warehouses was hit earlier this month.

Amid renewed Israeli bombardment after a failed week-long truce, Azmi Abu Assira was among those who sought bread in Gaza City on Saturday. He highlighted the absence of available bakeries and the soaring price of a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of flour, emphasizing the suffering of the people and calling for a ceasefire to alleviate the hardship.

Muhaysa urged the international community not to apply double standards but to grant Palestinians their right to a normal life. He emphasized the need for attention to the Palestinian cause so that Palestinian children can experience the same joy as children elsewhere in the world.

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