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

Business 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.

01:46They run the bullies themselves.

01:49And this will run the bullies.

01:50This is what people use.

01:51And this will run the bullies.

01:53And this is what they do in the town.

01:54Of course, it's a problem.

01:55I'm not sure.

01:56It's not great.

01:57I'm not sure.

02:01With no new way to replace damaged bills,

02:03damaged bills, a small trade has emerged to repair them, using tape and glue.

02:29Phone payment apps have gained some traction during the war,

02:32but many vendors don't accept them.

02:35If they do, they charge more.

02:37A steep markup for going cashless.

02:40With no other options, people turn to currency dealers.

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

02:51The currency dealers function like ATMs.

02:56People transfer money to their accounts through an app and get cash back.

03:01But for every shekel they withdraw, they lose half their money in fees.

03:06Before the war, dealers charged about five percent.

03:10The currency dealers function like ATMs.

03:13People transfer money to their accounts through an app and get cash back.

03:18But for every shekel they withdraw, they lose half their money in fees.

03:23Before the war, dealers charged about five percent.

03:36Of the two hundred dollars that Yasir walked away with,

03:39most will go toward just a couple of basic items at the market, like flour and dates.

03:45Across the strip, many of these markets have been destroyed.

03:51Trade has shifted to improvised open-air stalls that pop up wherever it's deemed safe,

03:56and only if there's anything left to sell.

03:59At their peak, goods have sold for as much as ten times their pre-war prices.

04:17Take flour.

04:19Before the war, a 25 kilogram sack sold for about ten dollars.

04:23When supplies hit their lowest, the same sack could cost up to $891.

04:31In the US, that amount of flour costs $90.

04:37This isn't just inflation.

04:39It's hyperinflation on a scale that rivals the worst economic collapses in recent history.

04:46But much of what you see on sale here was not meant to be for sale in the first place.

04:51What 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.

05:02What are you saying?

05:03What are you doing today?

05:04What are you doing today?

05:06Before you went to the shop?

05:08What are you doing today?

05:09What are you doing today?

05:11You're doing your help?

05:12You're doing your help?

05:14You're doing your help.

05:15Yes, I'm doing your help.

05:17You're doing your help.

05:18I'm doing my help!

05:19No, I'm doing your help.

05:21There 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

05:42or face starvation.

05:46We 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'm going to die. The situation is very difficult.

06:01I'm very scared. I'm very scared. I'll take him full of blood.

06:07We also contacted Mu'atasim Les'Aidni.

06:11He told us that visiting the aid sites feels like a real-life squid game.

06:17You can see in this footage people take cover on the ground under Israeli fire.

06:23Until they're told to move.

06:26I'm like afraid to death to go there.

06:29But we have no option. You know, choosing between going or not, it's luxury.

06:34You know, we have to go there. We have to eat.

06:40Mu'atasim has been coming here for months, walking two and a half miles to the nearest distribution center.

06:48Others make journeys of up to seven miles on foot.

06:53It's like a race line. We have to run so we can get any packages.

06:58We have to be there first to get anything.

07:00Before the war, the UN ran a wide network of hundreds of humanitarian distribution sites across Gaza.

07:09But since March 2025, Israel has banned and restricted the work of the UN agencies, claiming some of its staff had ties to Hamas.

07:18Fewer sites combined with greater need have only increased the risks.

07:25According 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.

07:35Business Insider sourced this footage from a U.S. contractor hired to oversee security at these eight distribution sites.

07:44In these images, we can see a tear gas grenade and hear gunfire.

07:56Many of those risking their lives come away empty-handed.

08:15For others, these are the rewards.

08:17From these people who died, they have a rare number of money for us.

08:26They have a spoon, a cinnamon, a corn, a chip, a knife, and 4 kilos of milk.

08:33We have made some olive oil, and put on the milk and put on the milk.

08:38Around 500 food trucks used to enter Gaza before the war.

08:42By the summer of 2025, Israel only allowed about 80 to cross the border.

08:49Almost all of the trucks sent by the UN end up being looted.

08:59Those headed for the four GHF sites are given armed guards.

09:03This satellite image from July 13 shows crowds waiting for aid in Rafah.

09:09Two weeks later in Khan Yunis, an image shows thousands of people engulfing a convoy of trucks.

09:21This footage, taken near the Zakhim crossing in the north, captures the chaos on the ground.

09:27Just like aid from distribution centers, some of the flour taken from these trucks will go to the families of those who carried it home.

09:44But much of it will be sold to the traders we saw in the market.

09:50Most 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 occasionally, fall from the sky.

10:02On the day Yasser filmed, a trickle of aid supplies reached Gaza through trucks and aid drops.

10:12So prices had actually dipped.

10:14It's the most basic rule of economics.

10:20When supply goes up, prices come down.

10:25But they are still far higher than before the war.

10:29People here say that the scarcity is deliberate.

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

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

10:52At every step, it's a battle.

10:56One that has become more expensive, more desperate, and more deadly.

11:02It's the most painful thing to think about the opportunities we are missing, the days we are missing, and how our lives have gone.

11:12What we have been through will stay with us forever.

11:16What we have been through is forever.

11:17What we have been through is forever.

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How food in Gaza got so expensive — and so deadly

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