Gaza Price Tracker: what food, water, and rent actually cost
Update, 23 October 2026: since commercial trucks stopped entering Gaza on 14 October, prices have jumped. In Gaza City a sack of flour is now 800 ILS (about $260 USD), the bakeries near us are closed, most vegetables, fruit and eggs cost about ten times what they did, and formula, cooking gas, rice and oil cost about double. Trucked water is still $85. What food costs this week.
Until 13 October, prices had not moved since August: flour cost $38 per 25 kg bag, trucked water $85 per 1,000 liters, infant formula $28 per 400 g tin, cooking gas about $45 per kg so a full 12 kg cylinder is about $600, and rent on an unfinished two-room apartment $500 per month. A finished apartment, where one can be found, costs at least 3,000 shekels a month, about $985. A family of four needed about $1,820 per month to survive. What changed is income: most people here lived on daily work, and that work is gone. Every number on this page comes from an actual purchase by one family living there, the Al-Shanti family, documented with photographed receipts and updated monthly.
Street prices for Northern Gaza, August to 13 October 2026
| Item | Unit | Price (USD) | Since August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat flour | 25 kg bag | $38 | unchanged |
| Trucked water | 1,000 liters | $85 | unchanged, $60 in July |
| Infant formula | 400 g tin | $28 | unchanged |
| Cooking gas | per kg (150 NIS) | ~$45 | scarce, often unavailable |
| Cooking gas, full cylinder | 12 kg (1,800 NIS) | ~$600 | more than a month of rent |
| Cooking oil | 1 liter | $9 | unchanged |
| Rice | 1 kg | $3.80 | unchanged |
| Lentils | 1 kg | $4.20 | unchanged |
| Internet & phone | per month | $100 | unchanged |
| Rent, unfinished 2-room apartment | per month | $500 | unchanged |
| Rent, finished apartment | per month (3,000+ NIS) | ~$985+ | rare, 6 to 12 months up front |
Prices are what the Al-Shanti family actually paid in Northern Gaza markets. Availability swings week to week; an “unchanged” price does not mean the item is reliably available. For a fuller basket, see Gaza real prices: the complete 2026 dataset.
A family of four's monthly survival budget
| Category, October 2026 | USD / month |
|---|---|
| Rent | $500 |
| Food staples | $420 |
| Trucked water | $420 |
| Cooking fuel (mostly firewood) | $210 |
| Infant formula & diapers | $110 |
| Internet & phone | $100 |
| Medicine & first aid | $60 |
| Total | $1,820 |
Winter months (November to February) run closer to $2,200 with heating costs. Full breakdown: our monthly survival budget, explained line by line.
What changed in October 2026
- The trucks stopped, and prices jumped. Commercial goods stopped entering Gaza on 14 October. Within a week, in Gaza City, a sack of flour went to 800 ILS (about $260 USD), every bakery near us closed, most fresh food went up about ten times or disappeared, and formula, cooking gas, rice and oil doubled. Only water stayed at $85. The full report: is famine coming back to Gaza?
- Until then, prices did not move. From August to 13 October, flour was $38 for a 25 kg bag, trucked water about $85 per 1,000 liters, formula $28 a tin, and there was no separate September edition.
- Income collapsed. Most people in Gaza lived on daily work, paid at the end of each day. That work is gone, and nearly everyone is unemployed now. Prices stayed where they were, but families do not have the cash to pay them.
- Rent is the wall. We pay $500 a month for an unfinished two-room apartment: bare block walls, no paint, no electricity. A finished apartment, when one comes up at all, costs at least 3,000 shekels a month, about $985, and landlords ask for six months to a year of rent up front. The full picture is in Rent in Gaza 2026.
- The total holds at about $1,820. A family of four still needs roughly $1,820 a month to survive. From November, winter heating pushes that toward $2,200.
Where these numbers come from
This tracker is maintained by Mohammed Z. Al-Shanti, an agricultural engineer living in Northern Gaza with his wife and two children. Prices are recorded from the family's actual purchases in local markets and from water-truck and rent payments, with photographed receipts for major expenses, available on request. The family's identity and location are documented on the verification page.
This is deliberately narrow data: one family, one area, real transactions. It does not claim to be a statistical survey of all Gaza prices. It claims to be exact, dated, and verifiable. Aid-agency price reporting works in averages compiled from a distance; this is what a specific family actually paid in a specific week. Both have their place. Only one of them can show you the receipt.
How to cite this data
Al-Shanti Family Gaza Price Tracker, Northern Gaza. donatetogaza.org/gaza-price-tracker, October 2026 edition (updated October 22, 2026). Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Journalists and researchers: these figures are free to reuse with attribution. For questions about a specific price, receipt images, or earlier months' data, contact us through the campaign. We answer personally.
Price history highlights
- Flour (25 kg): ~$4 before the war → $32 (early Feb 2026) → $45 (late Feb peak) → $38 (March to 13 October 2026) → 800 ILS a sack, about $260 USD (late October 2026, after the trucks stopped)
- Water (1,000 L, trucked): near-free from taps before the war → $60 steady (Feb to July 2026) → $85 (August to October 2026), pushed up in August by heat and fuel shortages
- Infant formula (400 g): ~$18 (May 2026) → $28 (June to 13 October 2026) → about double (late October 2026)
- Rent: $500 a month for our two-room apartment (July to October 2026); a finished apartment costs at least 3,000 NIS, about $985, in October 2026
- Monthly family budget: ~$1,050 (early 2026) → $1,690 (June to July 2026) → $1,820 (August to October 2026), the August rise almost entirely water
About this data
How much does food cost in Gaza right now?
Since commercial trucks stopped entering Gaza on 14 October 2026, food prices have jumped. In Gaza City in the week of 19 October a sack of flour cost 800 ILS (about $260 USD), the bakeries near the Al-Shanti family were closed, most vegetables, fruit and eggs cost about ten times what they did or could not be found, and infant formula, cooking gas, rice and cooking oil cost about double. Until 13 October prices had not moved since August: flour $38 per 25 kg bag, rice $3.80 per kg, lentils $4.20 per kg, cooking oil $9 per liter, infant formula $28 per 400 g tin.
How much does water cost in Gaza in 2026?
Trucked water costs about $85 per 1,000 liters in Northern Gaza as of October 2026, unchanged since August and up from about $60 in July. With municipal pumps repeatedly halted by fuel shortages, most families depend on water trucks. A family of four needs about five deliveries a month, which puts monthly water costs near $420.
How much does it cost a family to survive in Gaza per month?
About $1,820 a month for a family of four in Northern Gaza as of October 2026: rent $500, food $420, water $420, cooking fuel (mostly firewood, since a gas cylinder costs about $600) $210, infant formula and diapers $110, internet and phone $100, medicine $60. Tracked from receipts by the Al-Shanti family.
How much is rent in Gaza in 2026?
Very little is left to rent. The Al-Shanti family pays $500 a month for an unfinished two-room apartment with bare block walls. A finished apartment, when one can be found, costs at least 3,000 shekels a month, about $985, and landlords ask for six months to a year of rent up front.
Why are Gaza prices so high?
Supply is throttled: limited aid and commercial trucks, destroyed local production (most farmland and greenhouses are damaged), fuel shortages that halt water pumps and raise transport costs, and constant displacement that breaks distribution. When fewer trucks arrive, prices spike within days. We watched flour go from $32 to $45 and back inside a month.
How do you verify these prices?
Every number is a transaction our family actually made. Major expenses, such as rent, water deliveries and bulk food, have photographed, dated receipts. Our identity and location are documented on the verification page. If you are a journalist or researcher and want receipt images for a specific line, ask and we will send them.
How often is the tracker updated?
Monthly, with the edition date stamped at the top of the page. Data has been recorded continuously since February 2026, and this public tracker page launched with the July 2026 edition. There was no separate September edition. Prices did not change, and the October 2026 edition covers both months.
This data has a family behind it. Help them make the numbers work.
Every price above is a bill our family actually pays. Priced from the table: $100 covers a week of water. $210 covers two weeks of food. $500 covers the rent.