In Gaza, where electricity is scarce and 2.3 million people have been displaced, the necessity to keep water cool has revived the traditional Palestinian pottery craft. "People are now substituting fridges and cold water in refrigerators with clay pots," stated Bahjat Sabri Attallah, proprietor of a pottery factory. He informed Reuters that the sector has experienced heightened demand amidst the devastation caused by the Israeli military operation. However, the conflict has also imposed challenges on the potters, who now operate the wheels with their feet and mold the clay manually. They did not always work this way.
"Whereas we formerly worked with clay on (electrical) machines, today we shape clay on machines using our feet instead," Attallah explained. The factory's kiln, which previously used fuel, now runs on wood, he added. Nevertheless, due to food scarcity, the demand for pots for cooking has diminished. "Today we have no meat or vegetables, hence there is no demand for these items," Attallah elucidated. Amidst the scorching summer heat, shopkeeper Mahmoud Khidr said he was cooling drinking water by storing it in a clay pot similar to those produced at the factory.
"Now we have reverted to the old days," he remarked. Besides the hardships of locating and storing water, Palestinians confront a humanitarian catastrophe with shortages of food and fuel and the proliferation of diseases such as polio. The conflict in Gaza commenced when Hamas assaulted southern Israel, resulting in 1,200 fatalities and over 250 hostages, as per Israeli accounts. The Palestinian death toll from the Israeli military campaign has surpassed 40,000, according to Gaza authorities. Standing in his shop, with a clay pot atop a refrigerator, Khidr lamented: "We are suffering from everything."
