There are a handful of chocolate croissants and cinnamon rolls in the shop window, but otherwise the small bakery in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip presents a sorry sight. The long metal tables that are normally coated in flour and pastry are empty, and the big ovens at the back of the store stand cold and silent.

Abdelfateh has prepared fresh dough but the electricity was cut in the early morning. His supplies of cooking gas ran out three weeks ago. “I used to make at least 40kg of pastry every day. Now I make maybe 5kg,” says Abdelfateh. “It’s a terrible situation. I basically come here just to show that the shop is still open.”