Sidelined by War With Iran, Gaza Residents Remain in Limbo

The new war has led to panic buying and a surge in food prices for Gazans as they try to recover from Israel’s two-year offensive against Hamas.

“War in theMiddle East Advertisement Supported by The new war has led to panic buying and a surge in food prices for Gazans as they try to recover from Israel’s two-year offensive against Hamas”

New York Times

As the effects of the American and Israeli war with Iran rippled across the Middle East, people in one corner of the region, Gaza, were feeling sidelined, stuck in a kind of limbo.

New York Times

The fighting has set back the already slow progress toward a more peaceful reality in postwar Gaza.

Israel briefly closed all the crossings into Gaza.

New York Times

Now only one cargo crossing is operating.

The sole crossing for people entering or leaving the territory — including patients seeking medical treatment abroad — was closed for nearly three weeks after the war with Iran broke out on Feb. 28.

It reopened last week for limited numbers of passengers.

The Palestinian enclave was only just emerging from a devastating Israeli campaign that killed tens of thousands of people, according to Gaza health officials, and reduced much of the coastal territory to rubble.

“War in theMiddle East Advertisement Supported by The new war has led to panic buying and a surge in food prices for Gazans as they try to recover from Israel’s two-year offensive against Hamas”

New York Times

Now, the new strife has left residents of Gaza feeling ever more abandoned.

'The bitter truth is that Gaza has been forgotten,' said Fuad Shahin, 40, who runs a small cafe in Deir al Balah, in the southern half of the territory.

Adham al-Mabhouh, 46, a soccer coach who trains amputees injured and displaced by the Gaza war and during previous fighting, echoed the sentiment.

'The eyes of the world are on Iran and the Gulf,' he said.

'Whatever happens, Gaza seems to lose,' he added.

The price of food and other basic goods has surged as people have returned to panic buying, afraid that crossings into Gaza would not reopen, or would close again.

Unscrupulous merchants have hoarded stock, apparently hoping to profit from high demand should there be shortages.

New York Times