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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