How food in Gaza got so expensive — and so deadly - video Dailymotion

Insider

With no banks and no new currency entering Gaza, people either have to repair broken bills, approach money dealers, or run the gauntlet of the dangerous aid distribution sites.

Transcript

00:00Gaza's banking system has been destroyed.

00:10So this is what the hunt for money now looks like.

00:15Two years into the war, even the currency is falling apart.

00:22If you are lucky enough to get hold of any cash,

00:26basic goods can cost more than 50 times what they used to.

00:30When aid deliveries are blocked, as they were for months in 2025,

00:39a one kilogram bag of flour in Gaza can cost as much as $35, the most expensive on earth.

00:51But most people have drained their savings or can't get hard currency,

00:55so they risk their lives looking for aid in other ways.

01:00We've mapped out Gazans' daily battle to get food on the table,

01:08as they run the gauntlet of money dealers, crippling inflation, and deadly aid distribution points.

01:14Before the war, there were 56 bank branches and 91 ATMs in Gaza.

01:27Now, 98% of them have been destroyed or damaged, according to the World Bank.

01:32Gaza has no currency of its own.

01:37People here use the Israeli shekel.

01:39And since the start of the war, no new cash has been allowed in.

01:44So even the bills themselves are falling apart.

01:46the bills themselves are falling apart.

01:48The bills you write down well, they're going to go to college.

01:49and the bills they go to the village under the Al-Qaq.

01:53I'm going to go to Los Al-Qaq.

02:02With no new way to replace damaged bills, a small trade has emerged to repair them,

02:06them, using tape and glue.

02:29Phone payment apps have gained some traction during the war, but many vendors don't accept

02:34them. If they do, they charge more, a steep markup for going cashless. With no other options,

02:41people turn to currency dealers.

02:45Journalist Yasir Abu Wazna filmed one of the few spots in Deir Elbalah where they operate.

02:51Currency dealers function like ATMs. People transfer money to their accounts through an app and get cash back.

03:04But for every shekel they withdraw, they lose half their money in fees.

03:11Before the war, dealers charged about $5,000.

03:17Of the $200 that Yasir walked away with, most will go toward just a couple of basic items at the market, like flour and dates.

03:32Across the strip, many of these markets have been destroyed.

03:37Trade has shifted to improvised open-air stalls that pop up wherever it's deemed safe,

03:41and only if there's anything left to sell.

03:45Let's do that.

03:47Let's go.

03:48At their peak, goods have sold for as much as ten times their pre-war prices.

04:04Take flour.

04:05Before the war, a 25 kilogram sack sold for about $10.

04:24When supplies hit their lowest, the same sack could cost up to $891.

04:30In the US, that amount of flour costs $90.

04:36This isn't just inflation.

04:38It's hyperinflation on a scale that rivals the worst economic collapses in recent history.

04:45But much of what you see on sale here was not meant to be for sale in the first place.

04:52What markets are left are black markets.

04:56This is all aid.

04:58It's supposed to be handed out for free to people facing starvation.

05:02How do you pay home?

05:03More than that, but the rising amount of

05:13Sun-tributt is the lowest price.

05:17No .

05:20There is one of four infamous aid distribution sites run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF.

05:29And for Gazans without the money to buy goods on the black market, it's either face the dangers here,

05:41or face starvation.

05:43We spoke with Ihab Noor, who has been posting about his experiences at the distribution centers on social media.

05:53When I go to help, I'll be able to die. The situation is very difficult.

06:01It's very cold. It's very cold. I'll take a lot of blood.

06:06We also contacted Mu'tasim Lesaibni.

06:09He told us that visiting the aid sites feels like a real-life squid game.

06:16You can see in this footage people take cover on the ground under Israeli fire until they're told to move.

06:24I'm like afraid to death to go there.

06:28But we have no option. You know, choosing between going or not, it's luxury.

06:33You know, we have to go there. We have to eat.

06:39Mu'tasim has been coming here for months, walking two and a half miles to the nearest distribution center.

06:47Others make journeys of up to seven miles on foot.

06:52It's like a race line. We have to run so we can get any packages.

06:57We have to be there first to get anything.

07:01Before the war, the UN ran a wide network of hundreds of humanitarian distribution sites across Gaza.

07:08But since March 2025, Israel has banned and restricted the work of the UN agencies, claiming some of its staff had ties to Hamas.

07:17Fewer sites combined with greater need have only increased the risks.

07:24According to the UN, at least 2,000 Gazans were killed while trying to collect aid between the end of May and the beginning of September 2025.

07:34Business Insider sourced this footage from a US contractor hired to oversee security at these eight distribution sites.

07:51In these images, we can see a tear gas grenade and hear gunfire.

07:55Many of those risking their lives come away empty-handed. For others, these are the rewards.

08:16…

08:33Around 500 food trucks used to enter Gaza before the war.

08:40enter Gaza before the war. By the summer of 2025, Israel only allowed about 80 to

08:48cross the border. Almost all of the trucks sent by the UN end up being looted.

08:58Those headed for the four GHF sites are given armed guards. This satellite image

09:05from July 13th shows crowds waiting for aid in Rafah. Two weeks later in Khan Yunis, an image

09:14shows thousands of people engulfing a convoy of trucks.

09:22This footage, taken near the Zhukim crossing in the north, captures the chaos on the ground.

09:35Just like aid from distribution centers, some of the flour taken from these trucks will

09:42go to the families of those who carried it home. But much of it will be sold to the traders

09:48we saw in the market. Most people trying to intercept the trucks will come away with nothing.

09:55The only other options are charitable soup kitchens or the kind of aid that might, very

10:00occasionally, fall from the sky.

10:06On the day Yasser filmed, a trickle of aid supplies reached Gaza through trucks and aid drops.

10:12So prices had actually dipped.

10:20It's the most basic rule of economics. When supply goes up, prices come down.

10:26But they are still far higher than before the war.

10:35People here say that the scarcity is deliberate.

10:46Whether Gazans source their food from the market, the trucks, or the distribution sites.

10:51At every step, it's a battle. One that has become more expensive, more desperate, and more deadly.

11:03It's the most painful thing to think about the opportunities we are missing, the days we are missing, and how our lives have gone.

11:11What we have been through will stay with us forever.

11:16How?

11:29I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

How food in Gaza got so expensive — and so deadly

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