GAZA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Three bakeries in Gaza City opened for the first time, in coordination with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), after ceasing operations since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last October, Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses said Sunday.

The WFP provided the three bakeries with gas to operate the automated machines and flour for bread making, the sources said.

The bakeries, selling 2.5-kg bread loaves at a price of 1.5 U.S. dollars, attracted crowds of Palestinians to queue in the morning in front of the store.

"This is the first time I eat machine-made bread in about six months," Mohammed Saud, a father of five, told Xinhua, noting that due to the lack of gas, electricity, and flour, he could not make or buy bread for his children for quite a long time.

Saud expressed his hope that all bakeries in Gaza could resume operation and life would return to normal again.

There were about 140 bakeries in the coastal enclave inhabited by more than 2 million people before the war.

Since last October, Gaza has suffered a complete power outage following Israel's suspension of electricity and fuel supplies to the Strip, which led to the closure of the only power generation station in the territory.

This forced basic infrastructure to rely on backup generators, which are limited due to fuel shortages in the Strip.

About 30 people, mostly children, have died of malnutrition, dehydration, and a shortage of medical supplies at hospitals in northern Gaza since the war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, according to medical sources in Gaza. Enditem

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