The Basic Condition for Survival in Gaza: Lighter

In the Gaza Strip under Israeli siege, lighting a fire, one of the most basic needs of daily life, has turned into a major crisis. Gazans, who are forced to use wood fires due to the depletion of kitchen gas and skyrocketing fuel prices, have great difficulty in finding a lighter, which is the first step in starting a fire. A lighter; It has become the backbone of survival as it means cooking food for children, making bread or heating water.

The price of cheap lighters, which were sold three pieces for 1 shekel (16 TL) before the war, rose to 30 dollars (about 1,500 TL) due to heavy restrictions and the black market. Due to the exorbitant increase in prices, people prefer to have their old lighters repaired instead of buying new lighters. However, even having a lighter repaired costs 12 dollars (approximately 575 TL), and a single flint stone costs 8-10 dollars (approximately 480 TL). Low-income families ask, "Should I buy a lighter or flour?" While experiencing the dilemma, lighters are passed from hand to hand and used jointly. On days when lighters are not available, families are forced to eat their meals cold or send their children to the streets with pieces of cardboard in their hands to carry coal fire from their neighbors.

Rabab Deifallah, who is trying to live in a refugee tent in Gaza City, looks at the small and worn-out lighter in his hand. By repeatedly pressing the latch of the lighter, he tries to create a single spark that will ignite his stove full of twigs. For this woman, a mother of five children, an ordinary lighter is now the most basic condition for survival.