Bakeries close across Gaza as World Food Programme warns food supplies are set to run out in two weeks

(CNN) — All bakeries in Gaza have closed due to a severe lack of fuel and flour caused by Israel’s near month-long blockade of humanitarian aid, according to local authorities.

“The occupation has forced all bakeries to shut down entirely, exacerbating the famine crisis that threatens the lives of innocent civilians, particularly children, patients, and the elderly,” the Hamas-controlled Government Media Office in Gaza said Tuesday.

The closures are likely to accelerate the spread of famine in the strip, the head of the local Bakery Owners’ Association, Abdel Nasser Al-Ajrami told the Palestinian Press Agency Safa.

The United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) said all 25 of its bakeries in the enclave had shut, citing the lack of flour and fuel.

“Hot meals are continuing, but supplies will last two weeks. WFP will distribute its last food parcels in the next two days,” said Abeer Etefa, the WFP’s communications officer for Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.

The closures are already having a dire impact on Palestinians, with one man telling CNN his children are nauseated and exhausted from the lack of food.

“I went to every bakery. Every time we ask, they say there’s no flour due to the closure of the crossings. The Israelis control the crossings. We don’t know where to go,” Abdul Rahman Fattayeh said.

Ibrahim al-Kurd, another local, told CNN the situation was “extremely difficult, beyond explanation.”

“I have 40 family members, and I’ve been searching for bread for them since 8 a.m., going around all the bakeries in Deir al-Balah. None are operating,” al-Kurd said. “There’s no flour, no firewood, nothing. Not even water. It’s dire,” he added.

The Israeli government shut down the supply of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza in early March, in a bid to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and impose new conditions on the extension of the ceasefire.

No aid has entered the enclave for more than three weeks, with the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) saying that this is the longest Gaza has been without any supplies since the war began.

“During the ceasefire, 500–600 trucks arrived daily. Now, nothing,” Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, said last week.

The blockade has also heavily hit supplies of critical medicine in the Gaza Strip, with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, warning that they are now in short supply or running out.

MSF has begun to ration medications such as painkillers, and its teams are running out of anaesthetics, children’s antibiotics and medicines to treat chronic conditions like epilepsy, hypertension and diabetes, the organization said in a statement Wednesday.

It warned that the lack of medicine could lead to a multitude of health complications and many deaths.

Describing the latest blockade as the worst humanitarian crisis since the war began, Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network, warned the closure of bakeries would impact “hundreds of thousands of people” who rely on them for food.

“The coming days will be very critical on the lives and the health of the Palestinians in Gaza, mainly children, women, and elders,” Al-Shawa said Tuesday, urging the international community to pressure Israel into reopening the crossings.

CNN has reached out to COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for enabling aid to enter Gaza, for a response to the claims.

CNN’s Eyad Kourdi contributed reporting.

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