STORY: Starvation forces Gazan women to sell jewelry for food as conflict persists
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: July 9, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:38
LOCATION: GAZA, Palestine
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of jewelry sellers in Gaza
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): MOHAMMED, Deir al-Balah-based jeweler
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): SAMIHA AL-JAMAL, Palestinian woman
4. various of Gaza

STORYLINE:

The nine-month-long war in the Gaza Strip has caused unprecedented devastation to the Palestinian labor market and the wider economy.

Many women have been forced to sell their jewelry to sustain their families.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): MOHAMMED, Deir al-Balah-based jeweler
"Before the war, there was a great demand among people to buy jewelry. But, unfortunately, now the demand has become to sell jewelry. Currently, there is no possibility to buy jewelry because of the war, and this is what prompted women to sell jewelry to survive. Unfortunately, we are living in dark and difficult days, and this is the reason for (them) selling jewelry."

According to Zuheir, a Khan Younis-based jeweler, each gram of gold jewelry sold for 50 U.S. dollars before the conflict. Now, a gram sells for only 30 dollars. This amount of money can buy no more than two kilograms of sugar in northern Gaza, based on figures from a UN report in May.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): SAMIHA AL-JAMAL, Palestinian woman
"I have a ring and a pair of earrings, and I came to sell them to survive. We were displaced from Jabalia to Nuseirat, to Rafah, and then to Khan Younis, and now I have returned to Nuseirat. To feed my children, I am forced to sell what is left of my jewelry."

Israel has been waging a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, when a Hamas rampage claimed about 1,200 lives and took more than 200 hostages in southern Israel.
   
Palestinian casualties have risen to 38,193 deaths and 87,903 injuries, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Monday.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Gaza, Palestine.
(XHTV)