Palestinians turn to communal ovens to bake bread in Gaza

What Happened

Displaced Palestinians in Gaza are increasingly relying on communal ovens to secure bread, a staple food item that has become difficult to afford due to the ongoing war. At the Cairo School in western Gaza City, which serves as a displacement centre for 220 households, six communal ovens operate to provide free baking services. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supports this initiative by funding the ovens and the wages of workers, who are selected via a lottery system to provide a limited source of income for local women. The ICRC reports that its programme across the Gaza Strip includes 179 ovens, which produced 9.2 million loaves of bread between January and June 2024 for approximately 44,000 people.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The reliance on communal ovens highlights the severe erosion of self-sufficiency and the collapse of local markets in Gaza. With over 80 percent of the population unemployed and the cost of fuel and firewood prohibitive, humanitarian interventions like the ICRC oven programme have become essential for basic survival. The initiative underscores the broader humanitarian crisis, where displacement and the destruction of infrastructure have left tens of thousands of people entirely dependent on external aid for daily sustenance.

Watch For

Monitor the ICRC's expansion of the communal oven programme as displacement continues across the Gaza Strip. Additionally, observe reports on the availability of cooking fuel and firewood, as these factors directly dictate the demand for communal baking services and the overall food security of displaced families.