In Gaza, coffee is more than a drink. For residents living through its brutal war, the beverage has been a rite, a coping mechanism, a connection to normality. But that cherished comfort has become a rare luxury, nearly unattainable due to border closures, supply chain collapse and the suffocating effects of a conflict that has dragged on for nearly 21 months.
Loay Abu Shaar, 34, a resident of the Al Nasr district, remembers the early days of the war when the withdrawal began. “Before the war, I used to buy half a kilo of coffee every week and drink coffee three times a day,” he told The National. “My brain got used to it, I couldn’t do without it.”
But when he was forcibly displaced to the south, the coffee disappeared within days. “I started feeling like my head was splitting. I was addicted, and not just to coffee, but to cigarettes too. Both were gone. I couldn’t find balance any more.”
Coffee, prepared in the Turkish style, has long been a central part of Gaza’s culture. Even under siege, even with electricity cuts and food shortages, the smell of freshly ground beans often filled homes, alleys and refugee camps. “People in Gaza are known for their love of coffee,” says Saeb Shaheen, 43, who comes from a family of coffee sellers. “Especially smokers, we’re among the heaviest coffee drinkers in the world.”
Mr Shaheen, who has continued to roast and sell coffee during the war, even after being displaced from his home in the Jabalia camp, says he watched supplies dwindle and prices skyrocket.
“At first, coffee was still available in the north where I stayed. But then it began to vanish. A kilo went from 40 shekels [$12] to 100 dollars, and now it's reached 2,000 shekels per kilo,” he says. “I still try to sell, but I have to mix beans with chickpeas, lentils and cardamom to make it stretch. We sell that mix for 800 shekels. It’s not real coffee, but what can we do?”
It’s not just about coffee. It’s about stripping us of the few things that bring us comfort
Nesma Hameed,
resident of Al Shati refugee camp
Nesma Hameed, 47, from Al Shati refugee camp, said the shortages feel personal. “In my house, with my husband and three kids, we used to consume a kilo of coffee a week. It was our thing,” she told The National. “Coffee lifts your mood. It calms your nerves. It’s how we cope with life here. When that was taken from us, it felt like a part of us was gone.”
Ms Hameed is among many Gazans who see the disappearance of coffee as part of a larger pattern of deprivation imposed on them by Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods. “It’s not just about coffee. It’s about stripping us of the few things that bring us comfort," she says. "We’re not just hungry, we’re emotionally drained. And when you take coffee away from someone in Gaza, you take away a piece of their resilience.”
Unable to afford what little real coffee remains, many residents have turned to desperate substitutes, roasting lentils, chickpeas or barley in attempts to mimic the bitter, earthy flavour.
“It tastes terrible, but I still drink it," Mr Abu Shaar admits. "I think my hand just got used to holding the cup. Without it, I get irritable. I yell at my wife and kids for no reason. It’s like something in me is missing.”
This war has changed the face of Gaza in countless ways, but perhaps few changes are as quietly telling as the absence of coffee, the aroma no longer wafting through its streets and homes.
“Coffee is tied to our pain and our peace,” says Mr Shaheen. “When it’s gone, it’s like even the small joys we had are under attack.”
Until the borders reopen, until supplies resume, Gaza’s coffee drinkers remain in limbo, deprived of not only a drink but of a rite that once gave rhythm to their days and strength to their spirit.
"The first thing I’ll do, once coffee is available, is prepare a large amount and offer it to passers-by on the road, so our joy can be shared with coffee," Ms Hameed says.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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More on Palestine-Israeli relations
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
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Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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On sale: Available for pre-order now
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
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Day 5, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Given the problems Sri Lanka have had in recent times, it was apt the winning catch was taken by Dinesh Chandimal. He is one of seven different captains Sri Lanka have had in just the past two years. He leads in understated fashion, but by example. His century in the first innings of this series set the shock win in motion.
Stat of the day This was the ninth Test Pakistan have lost in their past 11 matches, a run that started when they lost the final match of their three-Test series against West Indies in Sharjah last year. They have not drawn a match in almost two years and 19 matches, since they were held by England at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi in 2015.
The verdict Mickey Arthur basically acknowledged he had erred by basing Pakistan’s gameplan around three seam bowlers and asking for pitches with plenty of grass in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Why would Pakistan want to change the method that has treated them so well on these grounds in the past 10 years? It is unlikely Misbah-ul-Haq would have made the same mistake.
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Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
SCHEDULE FOR SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - from 4pm (UAE time)
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Martin Klizan v Novak Djokovic (2)
Alexandr Dolgopolov v Roger Federer (3)
Court One - from 4pm
Milos Raonic (6) v Jan-Lennard Struff
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Evgeniya Rodina
Dominic Thiem (8) v Vasek Pospisil
Court Two - from 2.30pm
Juan Martin Del Potro (29) v Thanasi Kokkinakis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Jelena Jankovic
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BeIN Sports currently has the rights to show
- Champions League
- English Premier League
- Spanish Primera Liga
- Italian, French and Scottish leagues
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- Formula One
- Rugby Union - Six Nations and European Cups
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS & THE ECONOMY
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
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Rating: 2.5/5
