In the war-torn Gaza Strip, the price of coffee has soared, amid a humanitarian crisis and lack of basic necessities caused by the Israel-Hamas conflict. “Even if it is expensive, people are used to drinking it every morning with a cigarette,” a coffee seller in Rafah says.

The war began after Hamas’s 7 October attacks on Israel which left around 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement which has killed at least 21,900 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the strip’s Hamas-run health ministry. – AFP, January 2, 2024