Availability, consumption and inequality in access to calories during two years of war and food import restrictions in the Gaza Strip

Availability, consumption and inequality in access to calories during two years of war and food import restrictions in the Gaza Strip | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Availability, consumption and inequality in access to calories during two years of war and food import restrictions in the Gaza Strip Benjamin Davis, Stefania Di Giuseppe, Esther Heesemann, Annarita Macchioni Giaquinto, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8653315/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In response to the Hamas October 2023 attack, Israel launched one of the deadliest wars in modern history, resulting in the almost complete destruction of the Gaza Strip. The agrifood system has been destroyed, humanitarian aid restricted and food insecurity has reached extreme levels, amid dire public health conditions. In this context, the monitoring of food aid is highly contested. This paper assesses caloric availability, consumption and inequality in access in the Gaza Strip between October 2023 and September 2025. Combining food shipments and local production, average availability and consumption varied from the relative abundance of March-July 2024 and February 2025, to the extreme, collective food deprivation in November 2023-February 2024, October-December 2024 and particularly May-July 2025. Average caloric availability ranged from 7,166 kcal/pp/day in February 2025 to 32 kcal/pp/day in April 2025, while average caloric consumption ranged from 2,165 kcal/pp/day in February 2025 to 1,054 kcal/pp/day in June 2025. Such low average caloric availability and consumption, exacerbated by inequality in access, has both short- and long-term consequences on health, welfare and human capital development. Social science/Economics Social science/Social policy Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Preprint disclaimer (added 23 March, 2025): The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterials20jan26anonymous.docx Supplementary information Nature submission, 20jan26 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8653315","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":608509094,"identity":"8fdb2170-0189-41b6-9528-1bffe864d471","order_by":0,"name":"Benjamin 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