DEIR Al-BALAH, (PIC)
In one of the alleys of Deir al-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Muhammad Al-Hamidi was preoccupied by preparing primitive pottery kilns for baking bread.
Al-Hamidi told the PIC correspondent that he has been doing this job since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip due to the scarcity of cooking gas and electricity as well as the destruction and closure of bakeries.
Traditional pottery kilns have become one of the tools and symbols of Palestinian steadfastness and resilience in the face of the difficult reality caused by the Israeli aggression on Gaza which has been ongoing for 97 days.
The most feasible alternative
According to Al-Hamidi, pottery kilns are produced in two stages. The first is building a concrete slab and the second is forming the kiln or the oven from clay, which has to be of good quality.
He pointed out that there are different sizes of pottery kilns, including small, medium and large.
Pottery kilns have become the most feasible baking method in light of the Israeli ongoing aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip, as people have no other choices. Everyone has resorted to them amid the scarcity of cooking gas and electricity as well as the destruction and closure of bakeries.
According to Al-Hamidi, the price of one pottery kiln ranges between 70 and 170 shekels, depending on its size.
A complex process
Sami Ali told the PIC correspondent that he had to build a pottery kiln on the rooftop of his house in order to be able to make bread at home in light of the massive destruction caused by the Israeli heinous aggression on the Gaza Strip.
He added that he barely finds wood and paper that could be used in lighting fire inside the clay oven as everyone has been resorting to this old method, aggravating the problem and turning it into a complex process.
He underlined that he asks his children to search for wood, papers, and cardboard that can be used in the process of preparing fire for baking bread.
Ali highlighted that using pottery kilns in making bread is a kind of challenge to the harsh living conditions amid the Israeli aggression. It has turned into a tool that boosts the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli genocidal war that has been waged against the people in the blockaded Gaza Strip for more than three months.
Ali has pointed out that the use of pottery kilns has also created a state of solidarity among the Gazan families as they work hand by hand helping each other in preparing bread, as women gather in one place for the purpose of making bread and baking it together.
He explained that some families do not have pottery kilns inside their houses, so they visit their neighbors who own this kind of ovens to get their bread baked for them.
The Israeli brutal aggression has obliged residents in the besieged Gaza Strip to return to the heritage of their ancestors in order to survive and withstand the Israeli genocide.
Since October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leading to more than 90,000 martyrs, missing and wounded, with 70% of whom being children and women, in addition to the destruction of hundreds of thousands of housing units and the forced displacement of around two million people.
