Christian Aid: Onions cost more than a week's wages in north Gaza

Source: Christian Aid

One kilogram of onions costs more than £80 in northern Gaza - 400 times its pre-war price. 1kg of tomatoes costs nearly £50.
Mothers report losing up to 30kg of weight and describe the psychological impact as they sacrifice meals so their children can eat.
To respond to the humanitarian crisis at scale, Christian Aid is calling on the UK Government to do everything it can to deliver an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

The price of vegetables in northern Gaza has reached exorbitant levels according to new analysis by Christian Aid, amid warnings that there is a high risk of famine across the territory.

The UK charity which is working with local farmers to deliver nutritious hot meals to families across the Gaza Strip, found:

Onions are on sale for up to 400 times their pre-war price at £82 a kilo, equivalent to eight times the average daily wage in Gaza before the conflict and up from around £10 a kilo in March.

A kilogram of tomatoes which cost 20-40pence before October 7th is now £49.20.

Eggs - one of the few protein foods still available in the north of the territory nearly a year after the crisis escalated - cost £30 a dozen.

Christian Aid was told that some unscrupulous merchants are using "dirty" tricks such as concealing goods in order to drive up prices.

With most families no longer able to work, and savings fast running out, mothers told the charity's partner in Gaza that they go without food so their children can eat and spoke of the physical and psychological impact.

William Bell, Christian Aid's Head of Middle East Policy and Advocacy, said: "The suffering of Palestinian children and their mothers in Gaza knows no bounds. Starvation must never be used as a weapon of war, yet we have Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich suggesting it might be 'justified and moral'.

"The UK Government must do all it can to bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire in order to save the lives of civilians who are living in a hell on earth."

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, nearly half a million people in the Gaza strip face "catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity".

One mother, Thikrayat Al-Masuabi, 42, told Christian Aid's partners in Gaza: "We often survive on one meal a day if we can find one. My children cry and fall asleep hungry, and I spend nights crying because I am helpless and heart wrenched as their tears of hunger feel like a knife cutting through me, even though I always prioritized them over myself. So far, I have lost 30 kilograms of weight."

While the price of some staples like bread and flour has fallen since Christian Aid last did a snapshot analysis in local markets in Gaza in March, nearly all remain high in the north of the territory along with cooking oil which is £10 a litre.

Cucumbers cost 60 times more per kilo at the end of last month than the beginning of October 2023; aubergines and lemons 40 times more, while green beans, strawberries dates and chicken are no longer available, along with bottled water.

The vast majority of displaced families have no option but to buy water from mobile tanks owned by private companies. However, after nearly a year of conflict, many no longer have the filters and spare parts required for the desalination process meaning the potential for water contamination is very high.

An alternative source of drinking water in the Gaza strip is from agricultural wells, but due to pollution linked to the war, it is not fit for human consumption.

Reduced fruit and vegetable intake is linked to poor health and increased risk of noncommunicable diseases, according to the World Health Organization, which suggests consuming more than 400 grams of fruits and vegetables per day.

Christian Aid's Gaza consultant, whose family is trapped in the territory, said: "As well as the scarcity of products coming into Gaza and very low quantities of vegetables being grown locally, the cost of transporting goods from one area to another is very high because there is no fuel. That is reflected in the fluctuation of the price.

"Some merchants are also trying to play dirty games by hiding products. They are buying them at reasonable prices, keeping them in their stores and then selling them at very high prices and in limited quantities. Because there is no law or monitoring process to control the local markets, they are mainly governed by greedy merchants."

Fifty-year-old Nisreen Al-'Aklouk, told Christian Aid's partner, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights: "Since the war began, we have been displaced from one place to another, escaping death and indiscriminate Israeli bombardment, that has forced us to leave behind any available food supplies. We had to eat animal feed to stave off hunger, which led to me contracting several illnesses, and 20 kilograms of weight loss.

"Prices are very high; my children see the goods available in the market, but I cannot afford to buy them. The pains of war grow within me, and the pain of their hunger is so triggering that it squeezes my heart every night."