Gaza is being strangled by a prolonged Israeli siege now stretching beyond 60 days, plunging over two million people into a spiralling humanitarian disaster. Flour, once a staple of survival, has all but disappeared. Markets lie empty. Bakeries are shuttered. Desperation fills the void.

With border crossings tightly sealed, even humanitarian aid has become a trickle. A 25-kg bag of flour now costs over $350—a price utterly out of reach for most. Families are grinding animal feed or spoiled pasta into makeshift bread, while others resort to infested flour just to stay alive.

In Jabalia refugee camp, Haitham Rouhi, a father of four, watches helplessly as his children go to sleep hungry. “We have nothing left,” he says, voice breaking. “No flour, no rice, not even lentils. I no longer wonder if I’ll survive—I wonder if my children will die of hunger before my eyes.”

The World Food Programme has warned that Gaza teeters on the edge of total collapse, with the entire population dependent on aid that rarely arrives. UN officials report that children now dig through garbage, inhaling toxic smoke and scavenging for scraps. “This is no longer a crisis,” said OCHA’s Olga Cherevko. “It’s the collapse of humanity.”

Human rights groups are sounding the alarm, calling Israel’s blockade a tool of collective punishment and a violation of international humanitarian law. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor warns of widespread deaths from malnutrition and has called for the urgent lifting of the siege—by land, sea, and air.

Every hour the blockade continues, Gaza inches closer to irreversible tragedy. This is no longer a matter of aid—it is a matter of conscience.