Eid without toys: Israeli restrictions drive up prices in Gaza
Al Jazeera
Amid war and supply restrictions, Gaza’s toy markets face shortages and high prices, leaving children without Eid gifts.
Gaza City – In front of a toy stall in Gaza City’s central al-Rimal market, Rania al-Saudi stands with her two young daughters, looking bewildered at the unusually high prices of toys.
Al-Saudi had promised her daughters she would buy them two dolls to celebrate Eid, but the exorbitant toy prices mean she simply can’t afford them.
Her elder daughter, six-year-old Razan, didn’t understand her mother’s worried expressions as Rania asked the vendor for the price of each toy. With every price, Rania gasped and said, “Oh my God, it’s so expensive… this used to be much cheaper.”
Faced with her daughter’s insistence, Rania pleaded with the vendor to lower the prices, but he apologised, saying he could not because getting hold of toys to sell was incredibly difficult, considering Israeli restrictions on importing items into Gaza.
Rania was not alone. Other parents and children repeatedly came to the vendor’s stall to ask about toys, but not one of them made a purchase. In Gaza’s current war-driven economic crisis, the prices are simply unaffordable.
US president’s reference to Japan’s 1941 attack on naval base in Hawaii has shaken the Japanese public as PM Takaichi’s silence gets mixed reaction.
Japan edges tournament hosts Australia 1-0 in the Women’s Asian Cup final to claim third title in four editions.
Jury finds that two tweets posted in May 2022 by Musk contained false statements responsible for a plunge in Twitter’s share price.
No leakage of radioactive materials reported in the area in central Iran, Tehran’s atomic energy organisation says.
From Washington to Tehran to Tel Aviv, the fight to control the narrative seems as critical as the war itself.
Lin and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif were embroiled in a dispute over biological sex at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
One police officer killed in strike by ‘outlaw groups’ on headquarters of Iraqi National Intelligence Service.
Report by Francesca Albanese says ‘torture in detention used on unprecedented scale as punitive collective vengeance’.
Madrid host rivals Atletico at the Santiago Bernabeu as they aim to stay in touch with Barca, who are four points clear.
Japan sources more than 90 percent of its crude oil imports from the Middle East and is heavily dependent on exports transiting the key waterway.
Trump says he is not looking for a ceasefire with Iran as mixed messages from the US president come amid an escalating war.
Millions of people have rung in the ancient Persian New Year, Nowruz, as war grips the Middle East.