Two children and a woman were crushed to death as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip amid a worsening food crisis in the war-ravaged territory, medical officials said.
The children and the 50-year-old were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery on Friday.
The flow of food allowed into Gaza by Israel has fallen to nearly its lowest level of almost 14-month-old war for the past two months, according to Israeli official figures.
Palestinians collect bread at a bakery in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
UN and aid officials say hunger and desperation are growing among Gaza’s population, almost all of which relies on humanitarian aid to survive.
Some bakeries in Gaza were closed for several days last week due to a shortage of flour.
AP footage taken last week after they reopened showed large crowds of people cramming together, screaming and pushing, at one bakery in Deir al-Balah.
Palestinians across the Gaza Strip are heavily relying on bakeries and charitable kitchens, with many able to only secure one meal a day for their families.
In Lebanon, thousands of displaced people began returning to their homes this week after a ceasefire was announced between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
Many found their homes reduced to rubble after intense Israeli airstrikes over the past two months levelled entire neighbourhoods in eastern and southern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Displaced residents walk on the rubble of their destroyed house in Baalbek, eastern Lebanon (Hassan Ammar/AP)
Nearly 1.2 million people have been displaced.
The truce was the first major sign of progress in the region since war began more than a year ago, triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 2023.
But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza.
For Palestinians in Gaza and families of hostages held in the territory, the ceasefire marked another missed opportunity to end fighting that has stretched on for nearly 14 months.
More than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israel has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people.