Shortages and blockades on imports to Gaza have forced many Palestinians to become specialists in recycling materials for further use.

Footage from January 31 shows how workers are able to convert old scrap wood into coal to fuel cooking.

But due to restrictions on the area, wood is now hard to find on the Strip and some have resorted to smuggling it from Egypt through tunnels.

Alternatively, wood can be found where forests have been removed to make new homes but it is still in scarce supply.

Using the scrap wood, they form all the pieces into a pyramid shape and let it burnt down. Once it has charred, the new coal is used for coffee houses and restaurants.

One worker is heard explaining the situation: "All lands were bulldozed, from which we used to take firewood, and this the first thing we used to bring from Israel, but today there is nothing.

"Yes, the coal manufacturing is old, and they used to work in Beit Hanoun with coal, and in the West Bank, they used to come to work here.

"We were working with the people of the West Bank.

"We learned to manufacture coal when we were young!

"In the past, it was called black coal, but today it is nothing."

For example, the conversion of wood to wood into charcoal in the morning and is about to disappear, but every morning he hesitates to leave his home and go to his workplace in light of the Egyptian charcoal invasion of the local market.

Their time was inside a small tent by building it next to a private coal mine, due to declining demand for local coal, or what he called "black gold", low price and quality. From Egyptian charcoal.

On September 28, 2000, it retreated, and charcoal in Gaza maintained a strong presence in the market, but since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada on September 28, 2000, the Israeli uprising. The raids. In the border areas, which were the main center of the attacks. Which leads to the occupation soldiers sabotaging them or burning firewood.

Interview

All lands were bulldozed, from which we used to take firewood, and the first thing we used to bring from Israel, but today there is nothing.

Yes, the coal is old, and they used to work in Beit Hanoun with coal, and in the West Bank they used to come to work here. We were working with the people of the West Bank. How did we learn to manufacture coal when we were young! A resident of the West Bank, throughout his life, coal has been working in the Gaza Strip. In the past, it was called black coal, but today it is nothing.