Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Every morning, Azza Ashour kneads dough for her five children before carrying it to a communal oven at the school where her family has been sheltering. The 31-year-old mother has little money, no regular income and no husband at home. She explained that he has been detained by the Israeli army since May 2024, one of thousands of Palestinians locked away without trial by Israel.
Azza makes the dough stretch as far as possible, sometimes filling the bread with cheese or a little chocolate. If there is little else to feed the children, the bread itself becomes the meal. Azza is from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, an area destroyed by Israel during its genocidal war.
The family was first displaced to southern Gaza, before eventually settling at Cairo School in western Gaza City. It has been turned into a displacement centre where they have lived for around a year. She is now responsible for managing the household and caring for all five children.
With little money for food and no income of her own, bread has become central to how she feeds her children. The cost of cooking is another obstacle. Azza says she cannot afford to regularly buy firewood or fuel, which has become too expensive for her family.
That’s where the communal oven comes in. Supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), it allows the displaced to bake their dough for free. Before the oven, Azza says buying bread could cost her about 15 shekels ($5) a day.
The 38-year-old mother of seven wakes up at about 5:30am to prepare dough for her children before they leave for school. By 7am, she begins her shift at the oven, baking for families until noon. She pauses, wiping her face with a towel.
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